Amex and Chase issued press releases today to unveil near term plans for converting their SPG and Marriott Rewards cards to the new all-in-one Marriott Bonvoy program. Here’s a summary of the changes, organized by the currently existing credit card names (scroll to the bottom for my impressions):
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
- New Name: Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card (as of Feb 13 2019)
- Last Day to Apply: February 12, 2019 (Amex will no longer accept new applications for this card beginning February 13th)
- New Retention Bonus Starting Feb 24 2019: For those who opened their accounts before Jan 23 2019 –> Earn up to 100K bonus points. Earn 25K bonus points for each $25K of spend through the end of 2019. “Eligible Card Members will receive more information about this offer, including the relevant terms and how to register their Card soon.”
- New card design:
- Current card info:
Card Offer and Details
Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express
- New Name: Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card (as of Feb 13 2019)
- New Welcome Bonus: For those who apply Feb 13 through April 24 2019, earn 100K points after $5K spend in 3 months.
- New Perks: Earn an additional 35K free night award with $60,000 or more spend per year
- New Annual Fee: $125 starting March 28 2019 (was $95)
- Card Members who apply before 3/28/19 will receive the first year free, then pay an annual fee of $95 at the following Card anniversary date, and then pay the new annual fee of $125 at their next Card anniversary date and on all Card anniversary dates thereafter.
- For current Card Members, the fee increase will take effect on the Card Member’s next Card anniversary date on or after 3/28/2019
- New card design:
- Current card info:
Card Offer and Details
Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card from American Express
- New Name: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (as of Feb 13 2019)
- New Welcome Bonus: For those who apply Feb 13 through April 24 2019, earn 100K points after $5K spend in 3 months.
- New Perks: Starting March 28 2019, $100 in property credit per stay when cardholders use their Card and a special rate code to book stays of two or more nights at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® properties
- New card design:
- Current card info:
Card Offer and Details
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus
- New Name: Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card (as of Feb 28 2019)
- New Welcome Bonus: Starting Feb 28 for a limited time, earn 100K points after $5K spend in 3 months.
- New Perks: Contactless (the Amex cards already have this feature)
- New card design:
- Current card info:
Card Offer and Details
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Plus
- New Name: Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business (as of Feb 28 2019)
- Last Day to Apply: February 12, 2019 (Chase will no longer accept new applications for this card beginning February 13th)
- New Perks: Earn an additional 35K free night award with $60,000 or more spend per year
- Same Annual Fee: $99 (pointing this out because the Amex business card will increase its fee to $125)
- New card design:
- Current card info:
Card Offer and Details
Chase Ritz Carlton Rewards Visa Infinite
- New Name: The Ritz-Carlton Card
- New Perks: Starting April 2019, $100 in property credit per stay when cardholders use their Card and a special rate code to book stays of two or more nights at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® properties.
- New card design:
- Current card info:
Card Offer and Details
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier
- New Name: Not yet announced
- New card design:
- Current card info:
Card Offer and Details
New No-Fee Marriott consumer card from Chase coming this summer
- No additional details have been released yet
My first impressions
- Bonvoy is still a stupid name
- I’m not excited about the alliteration that will make it hard to remember which card is which. Which is a higher end card? Bonvoy Brilliant? Bonvoy Boundless? I would have guessed that boundless trumps brilliant, but I’d be wrong. In my opinion, Amex should have stuck with the Luxury Card name for their $450 card.
- I love the card art on the Bonvoy Amex (AKA old SPG consumer card)! I predict that this will be the card to have since you won’t be able to get it starting Feb 13 2019. For $95 per year, it’s worth keeping for the annual 35K free night… and the card art.
- It’s also interesting that Amex is encouraging spending on the old SPG card by offering 25K bonus points per $25K spend, up to 100K. If you spend exactly a multiple of $25K, the card effectively has it’s old earning power of 1 SPG point = 3 Marriott.
- Both the Amex and Chase business cards are gaining the ability to earn a second 35K free night with $60K spend. For those who spend a lot at gas stations to earn 4X rewards, this should come as good news.
- I’m bummed that the Ritz and Lux.. er, Brilliant cards didn’t add big spend bonuses like free nights or extra points. Only those cards offer Platinum status with $75K spend, so it would be nice for Marriott to offer more than just elite status for that high spend.
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[…] cards that have been issued in the United States. With each card you’ll see first the Marriott Bonvoy card name and the original card name in parentheses (many of the cards were previously issued as Starwood […]
[…] month ago, Amex and Chase announced changes to the SPG / Marriott credit cards to account for the Marriott Bonvoy rebranding. Some of those […]
[…] Last Day to Apply: February 12, 2019 […]
Question: I have the Amex SPG card atm, can i get the sign up bonus from the Chase Marriott boundless card(which comes out Feb?)
No. You would have to first cancel the SPG card and wait 31 days before applying for the Chase card.
Gred, when do the new spend SPG personal card bonuses begin and do you need to sign up (if so, how/when/where)?
Feb 24. “Eligible Card Members will receive more information about this offer, including the relevant terms and how to register their Card soon.”
[…] changes to their Marriott/SPG credit cards. That couldn’t be ignored, so I published “Marriott Bonvoy credit card changes announced.” And, that led to more thoughts and questions, so I followed that up with “Bonvoy […]
[…] shows all of the Marriott cards that I know of. With each card you’ll see first the new Marriott Bonvoy card name and the original card name in […]
I just got new info from Amex about the SPG business card annual fee (and added it to this post):
Card Members who apply before 3/28/19 will receive the first year free, then pay an annual fee of $95 at the following Card anniversary date, and then pay the new annual fee of $125 at their next Card anniversary date and on all Card anniversary dates thereafter.
For current Card Members, the fee increase will take effect on the Card Member’s next Card anniversary date on or after
3/28/2019
Thanks for looking into this and the quick replies! You’re the best.
It figures that my card anniversary date for my SPG biz is 4/4/19. I’m definitely gonna call and try to talk them out of it.
Greg:
A) If we sign up for the new offer SPG/Bonvoy Business card (100k/$5k; starting Feb 13th) prior to the AF increase ($95->$125; March 28th), will we be grandfathered into the lower AF rate ($95)?
B) If we are current holders of the SPG Biz card, will we be grandfathered into the lower AF rate ($95)?
BTW, this whole Bonvoy name system is terrible IMO
A) Yes. I’m not sure if that lasts past the first year though. First year = $0 annual fee. Second year = $95. I’m not sure about third year.
B) For at least one year, yes. I’m trying to get a definitive answer from Amex.
Just got official answers from Amex:
A) Card Members who apply before 3/28/19 will receive the first year free, then pay an annual fee of $95 at the following Card anniversary date, and then pay the new annual fee of $125 at their next Card anniversary date and on all Card anniversary dates thereafter.
B) For current Card Members, the fee increase will take effect on the Card Member’s next Card anniversary date on or after 3/28/2019
omg my anniversary d ate is 3/29 for the spg business – haha
[…] other changes soon to come to their Marriott and SPG credit cards. I covered the details here: Marriott Bonvoy credit card changes announced. As changes often do, these changes create opportunities which I’ll discuss below. But […]
Am I correct that SPG Lux card will have 2 benefits: $300 st. credit/year in Marriott/SPG properties + $100 property credit/stay?
Yes, but note the restrictions on the $100 property credit.
I’m not eligible for the bonus but thinking of getting the Chase business card for the annual 35k certificate. It should be worth more than $99 even with the new devalued program.
Think the new Ritz card will be sbject to 5/24? If so, wonder if you can PC to it…
The new Ritz card won’t be available to new applicants. I don’t know if they’ll allow product changes to it (I doubt it, but maybe)
from a subsequent post of yours, yes!
Bear: Yes, they allow product changes to the Ritz from other Chase Marriott consumer cards
Josh: Thanks for the reminder :).
Greg, I can’t find this information.. do you know if someone will be able to product change from Bonvoy Brilliant to Bonvoy American Express Card in future for example after February 13th? I upgraded to SPG Luxury cards back in October… I am trying to understand if I can downgrade it to Bonvoy American Express Card in future.. Thanks..
Just heard from Amex: Yes they say that downgrades from Brilliant to Bonvoy will be allowed even after plain Bonvoy is no longer available for new applicants.
Thank you Greg for reaching out to Amex and finding out this valuable information. I really appreciate that.
A question on the SPG luxury card. It says spend $75000 on the card and upgrade to platinum elite. But, when I look at the fine print it states that you are not eligible for this if you already have platinum elite or higher status this card won’t work. I’m wondering if in this new phase they will make the SPG luxury card similar to the Ritz Carlton card in being able to renew or repeat platinum elite level status.
I’m not sure if that fine print is correct. My bet is that it means (for example) that if it’s 2019 and you already earned 50 nights for 2020 Platinum year elite status, then spending $75K in 2019 won’t give you double Platinum status. Something like that.
>>>I’m not excited about the alliteration that will make it hard to remember which card is which. Which is a higher end card? Bonvoy Brilliant? Bonvoy Boundless? I would have guessed that boundless trumps brilliant, but I’d be wrong. In my opinion, Amex should have stuck with the Luxury Card name for their $450 card.<<<
For sure. What are these "consultants" thinking? I think the same thing about Hilton Ascend vs Aspire, instead of keeping Surpass. Which is better? Or Hyatt Discoverist vs. Explorist. Which is better?
One thumbs up I will give the card team: I think the new Amex card is a good looking card, but I also think the current purple Amex is a good looking card.
greg. where do you see the terms for the 25k bonus up to 100k? i guess it doesnt matter tho. 25k spend can be used elsewhere. also it would be a huge help if you added the totally complex app bonus restriction chart because thats going to be key with the new SUB coming in FEB. for those who havent apped yet, it may make sense now. but i do see that you had already added a link to your “bonvoy guide” post.
It’s right in the press release: “In addition, starting February 24, 2019, Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card Members whose accounts were opened before January 23, 2019 will be eligible to earn up to 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points. Once registered, eligible Card Members can earn 25,000 bonus points for every $25,000 in eligible purchases on the Card, for up to 100,000 points through the end of the year. Eligible Card Members will receive more information about this offer, including the relevant terms and how to register their Card soon.”
Yes, I have a followup post going out tomorrow morning with thoughts about signups and have updated the chart for that post.
oh man. thank you greg. i skipped that section because i thought the 100k was related to the new signup bonus. appreciate the response.
Greg: I haven’t signed up for any Marriott/SPG card recently, however last year (May 2018) I did accept an offer to upgrade from the Chase Marriott Premier to Premier Plus, does this make me ineligible to sign up for the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card?
Yeah, it makes you ineligible for the signup bonus for that one, but I think you could get the card without the bonus. The Marriott Business card would be ok though
Will you be able to downgrade to whatever the replacement for the SPG personal card is called? My plan was to downgrade my SPG luxury to a SPG personal after free night posts, and get a pro-rated AF refund. Is that plan now dead?
Great question. I don’t know.
Probably not, and I do not think your plan would have worked in any event.
AMEX, unlike Chase, has been sending out the free night certificates — at least with respect to its Hilton cards from anywhere to 5 – 8 weeks after the annual fee hits — often too late to request a pro rata refund — if they even given them nowadays.
Chase, on the other hand, generally sends out its Marriott free night awards in advance of the annual fee hitting, thereby permitting individuals to score the free night and then cancel the card without paying the annual fee.
Well I disagree. Yes I know that the free nights posts well after 30 days past when the AF posts. However, from the data points I’ve seen, they will give prorated refunds after 30 days if you are downgrading (not cancelling).
Be careful of the Amex RAT team if you are downgrading any Amex product before you’ve held that card for a full year – which is not the cardmember year anniversary that the the annual fee is due on due to the upgrade. The terms seem to say that is frowned upon just as much as cancelling a card within the first year to rake the bonus.
Since the Luxury card was only first offered last summer (Aug?), I think no one is going to be able to safely downgrade from the luxury to the regular card by Feb 13 without Amex RAT team scrutiny.
Of course if someone tries it, please post the results…
That is good to know, but if there is nothing to downgrade to, then the only option would be to cancel.
Downgrades get pro-rata.
Hey Greg, I believe there’s an typo on the Lux card giving 6x pts on dining.. I last checked on the “bonfire” page, it’s 3x pts. Pretty much the same earn rate as the old SPG personal card..
I’m really gonna miss my purple SPG card, it was really my go-to card for everyday spend..
Thanks! Fixed. Refresh screen to see.
Greg: Here’s my question: I have the SPG Business card, but not the SPG personal card (I cancelled it last year to make room for the Aspire card). Can I product change the business card to the personal card today, and then be eligible for the retention bonus? Also, is the 25k point bonus for $25k spent on the card valid beyond 2019?
No, you can’t product change from business to personal. I don’t expect the $25K thing to last past this year, but they haven’t said one way or another
Doubtful. They generally do not permit Biz – Personal card conversions, or vice-versa.
Last March at my Biz renewal, I got the AF waived (with nominal spend), but they also offered to PC my card then to Blue. I told them I would see how the year played out but would take them up on it (this year) if I still wasn’t satisfied with the card.
Hoping AMEX still lets me cos I am def ready to part ways at $125/yr for it (that they prob won’t keep waiving now). Is not their usual practice but am glad AMEX is trying to be flexible thru all the changes.
Pam —
Wow, then there might be hope for me for them waiving my first year of having the SPG AMEX Biz, if not, I am not sure with no retention offer that I will keep it.
We are looking at applying for the SPG luxury card soon. Do we apply for the old offer for 75k points plus a 20k referral bonus? Or do we wait and apply for the 100k point offer which may not have a referral bonus?
I bet you can get the referral w/ the 100K offer
So does the $30 increased fee on the Amex biz card get you?…. A new design? Seems like an increase with no benefit unless I missed something.
It gets you the option to earn an additional 35K free night award with $60,000 or more spend per year. In other words, not much
Any word on if the SPG retention offer of 1x SPG on up to 100K covers all spend in 2019? Or only after Feb 24th? I have a large purchase that would be worth putting on SPG if it got the old earn rate, but otherwise is going on my Gold card for CC protections
My reading is that it is only spend that occurs after you enroll, so earliest would be Feb 24
Thanks for the update. I forgot they were phasing out the regular Amex SPG card for new applications. Once the fee goes to $125/yr, the price difference to the luxury after the $300 yearly credit will be only $25. Hope they have some good upgrade offers at some point this year. Even better if it’s late in someone’s cardmember year since they prorate the fee while still giving the full $300 credit.
Good point about upgrade bonuses. Note: The business SPG card goes to $125 not the consumer one. And they’re only phasing out the consumer one.
Read this too fast. Good that the SPG consumer is staying at $95. I am on the fence about upgrading to the Luxury Card, but no AMEX downgrade option is a pretty big deal going forward IMO, so I’ll probably keep that regular card.
RC FM Mini Review: “While the card is pricey, the annual free night, plus $300 in ariline fee credits, plus other perks make this card a keeper.”
I didn’t know this card has a free anniv night?
Yes, as of August something or other 2018, they added a 50K per year free night upon your card anniversary
Another night on this card is huge for me when deciding to cancel the others. I got the RC card last July right before it was pulled for the Plat status alone you said would happen (& did).
The Welcome Kit doesn’t even mention it – thx, Greg will be planning future trips/other Marriott card holdings around this.
Yes, it has a free night upon the anniversary, but putting any $$ on it outside of Bonvoy hotels after meeting the initial spend is highly debatable.
The 50,000 point free night is worth it to me for a net $150.00 out of pocket cost because I have been a dedicated Marriott guy, but I would rather put non-bonus spend on my Hyatt and Surpass cards while working to secure their additional free night award after spending $15,000.00 on each respective card, let alone the bonus categories they each have, as well.
I’m not in the least bit impressed with the roll out of these cards as many of the “incentives” lack imagination; rather they are simply a Marriott variant of the Hilton AMEX Aspire card.
The additional 25,000 points for $25,000 spend I believe is a one-off.
What they should have done is offer an additional Free Night for $15,000 spend like the Hilton and Hyatt cards — then you would have garnered some buzz.
HVB
If you put all your large spend on a card for airlines wouldn’t you be better off ? Then get a deal on the hotel and room u want and not be Loyal to any hotel chain useless it works for you.
CHEERs
CD —
As far as I know, no airline gives elite top tier elite status for spend. I know that there are various Delta and AA cards that give a leg up, but I don’t think they give elite status that correlates with a certain spend — rather, I think they assist and can combine with your flights you have taken to put you over a hump.
Therefore, if you don’t fly much for business, these cards will be of little help to you for gaining status.
If I am wrong — and I very may well be as I am not that knowledgeable about these sorts of cards — please do enlighten!
HVD
I always try to figure out which way people are going with their cards and Why . I see now you want all the peeks the higher end hotel cards can give you for your stays . Your a very good poster your not a net picker which wastes a lot of time here Thanks.
CHEERs
Thanks, CD.
I may not be a net/nit picker, but I am a cherry picker, and that is why the FM is one of the best blogs out there! They give all the information for one to make a knowledgeable decision.
HVB
Your in Error the Best for me FM is as in a Gold Mine..
CHEERs
+1
Yes, agree the same spend is better utilized on other products/programs you mention.
Gotta say am really loving Plat status, though – I keep getting amazing free room upgrades every stay which makes my points go dramatically further than face value. What are your thoughts on RC card $75k spend for that alone?
That’s a hefty spend. I think that makes sense in only 2 instances.
The first, if you know how to MS and can do it easily, then I would consider it.
The other is if you are a heavy Marriott-phile and can swing the spend.
If not, then I would get the AMEX Aspire and at least initially the Ascend for the welcome bonuses and free nights. Then, if you can swing the spend on the Ascend towards the additional free night and they give you a decent retention offer, I would go for it. If not, downgrade the ascend to the no fee AMEX and wait for them to offer you an upgrade with points bonus, as if you were a new cardholder.
Ii would definitely get the Hyatt card and also work to the 2nd free night for the $15K spend.
The Marriott cards are worth it in my opinion — if you do not have outsize expectations.
When I started, Gold status got you breakfast, now it does not so to get a free breakfast at Marriott it was somewhat easier in the past — as either a Gold or Platinum challenge would be of help. Now, only a Platinum challenge will accomplish this.
If the challenge works for you definitely do it.
If not, there are still good hotels — esp. for families that are a high category and also serve a comp breakfast — in urban and resort areas.
However, if you are thinking of getting the Luxury Card and you have not status — and you want to use it at an older hotel with a high category — you may be disappointed as those hotels have rooms from shoe boxes to grand suites, and there, hotel elite status will likely carry some weight — especially as those older hotel have a good deal of snootiness factor, as well.
If spend if difficult to manage, then I think the Marriott/Spg cards below the Luxury Card RIGHT NOW provide decent return with the free night.
However, this is caveated by 2 factors — in the past, Marriott was notorious for having the usable free night certificates all but disappear in city centers and high demand areas. The re-categorization by bringing in SPG hotels also brought many Marriott properties back to categories not seen for a couple of years — so lower category hotels can now be once again found in urban areas — e.g. Cat 5.
Second, we do not know how many hotels with have peak and off-peak pricing, as well as for how long they each will have it. So, it is difficult to assess what Marriott will do.
If they follow SPG as it was used in the past, then there will be many hotels that will not be subject to this pricing and others where you would expect it but not for extraordinary lengths of time = during the shoulder season you could at least find standard redemption.
I think that Marriott will adopt this maneuver, at least initially.
However, there are doomsayers who will state that Marriott will use this “loophole” to really price out these hotels when they are most wanted — it is possible, who knows?
All I know is that if they do so, I will jettison some of my cards and I do not look kindly upon AMEX raising the price on the BIZ card while the Chase Marriott Biz is not raised.
Moreover, the Chase Marriott Biz is more accepted as it is a Visa card and has more expansive categories.
The AMEX version only has a bonus for Wireless communications, whereas the Visa version is for landline, wireless, internet and likely streaming services, as well.
So, hard to justify a price rise of the AMEX variant when the Visa card is that more expansive.
At $95 I wanted to see what I would get under the new regime — if it is less than expected, then the AMEX biz for me will be a goner.
Also, many have reported that AMEX has been very stingy with retention offers on the Biz card — so another demerit against it.
Only time will tell.
PS — the Chase Hyatt Visa — whose hotels have not gyrated wildly in category assignment over the years does bring very good value for redemption — especially since some Small Luxury Hotels have been added to the mix!
Thanks for the thoughtful reply, HVB. I have status with the Aspire and am deciding now if my spend should go on the WOH card or the RC card towards better status with them. I have plenty of points with all but without better status my stays are just not as rewarding for me. I am more about wanting a great room rather than only having lots of average hotel stays. Thanks again for your insight.
Thanks, Pam.
Well, even for me the organic spend to reach Globalist via the Hyatt card spend and with stays is a bridge too far. However, Hyatt does permit you to pay more for either a suite upgrade or lounge access in those hotels with lounges, so although I am not saying whether those additional points charges are a worthwhile trade-off, that is something you can do with more Hyatt points in the absence of status.
With respect to Platinum in Marriott, I had always found that the easiest way to do so was to take the Platinum challenge and bulk up on stays during a 3 month period, even if you had to create some mattress running to do so.
I do not know if the current requirements are more stringent that they were, though, although I think they may be.
In addition, $75,000 spend on a card with few bonus categories is a lot to ask without being able to MS and another wrinkle is just how the hotels are going to treat vanilla Platinums now that they have the Titanium and Ambassador tiers — even thought they are supposedly “co-equal.”
It is one thing doing so with the certainty of getting breakfast and the potential hope of getting a better and for me larger room or suite upgrade, quite another if those larger rooms/suites fail to reasonably materialize with these new higher “co-equal” tiers. SPG loyalists probably could provide a matter answer on the latter front.
Good luck!
If you have some of the existing credit cards and are not interested in the bonus spend at this time, should you cancel them and reapply later? Would you qualify for the bonus since you never had the ” new” card?
No, they won’t be treated as new cards.
It is my prediction that sooner or later, Marriott will have to admit the customer source loss and add Platinum (Free breakfast) back to its high end card. Even so it only reach the same bar where Amex Hilton Aspire is right now.
That would be nice!
You are dreaming.
They may, however, relent and permit Gold members to get a continental breakfast at hotel restaurants or when upgraded to the Club Floor like Hilton does with its Gold members and the Amex Ascend card.
With all of the nice bonuses on other cards for dining, supermarkets, etc. I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble of trying to hit that $25,000 on unbonused spend to get the extra point. I’d rather just sock drawer the card, pay my annual fee and collect my free night.
Same here
Nope. No way is it worth my shifting $25k in spending for 25k MR points. They’ve been devalued WAY too much to bother.
Yup that is really the key to why 3 points per dollar now is not the same as 3 points per dollar then…the devaluations.
Agreed.
I would rather spend $15,000 on the Hyatt or Amex Ascend cards and get a free night — with their respective restrictions — than hit $25,000.00 on these cards.
Moreover, the same holds true with their $60,000.00 “incentive” which parallels the Amex Aspire card — No Thank You!
I’m curious which rate codes allow for the $100 credit at St Regis and Ritz-Carlton properties using the Bonvoy Luxury card. That could be helpful to me.
You have to ask for the Member Rate named “$100 Property Credit, Luxury Credit Card Rate”
Full terms:
Effective March 28, 2019, when you use your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card to book through http://www.marriottbonvoy.com or by calling Marriott Bonvoy at 1-800-450-4442, for a two-night minimum stay at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® using the Member Rate named “$100 Property Credit, Luxury Credit Card Rate”, you will be eligible to receive a property credit of up to $100 per booking to be used on qualifying purchases on property. When booking online, you must be logged into the Marriott Bonvoy account linked to your Card account to be eligible to book this rate. When booking by phone, please reference the “$100 Property Credit, Luxury Credit Card Rate” Member Rate. You must confirm you are booking the correct $100 property credit rate at time of booking. Card Member will receive a credit equal to $1 for each dollar of qualifying charges made at the property under the Card Member’s booking, up to $100. The property credit will be applied as a credit on your bill upon checkout (and not on your American Express billing statement). Qualifying charges do NOT include property fees, taxes, gratuities and the
cost of the room. Additional exclusions based on specific hotel restrictions may also apply (including, without limitation, purchases within the hotel that are made with a third party merchant). Please see the applicable hotel front desk for details. You must use your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card to pay your bill upon checkout. Stays booked by either the Basic or an Additional Card Member on the eligible Card account are eligible for the $100 property credit benefit. Each booking is only eligible to receive a property credit of up to $100, regardless of the number of rooms booked. The property credit cannot be carried over to another stay, is not redeemable for cash, and expires at checkout if not used on qualifying purchases on property during the stay. The property credit is nonexchangeable and non-refundable and is applied in USD or equivalent in local currency based on exchange rate at time of checkout. May not be combined with other offers or programs unless indicated. Back-to-back stays within a
24-hour period at the same property are considered one stay.
I really doubt it, Bill.
AMEX has the same deal with the Aspire card and Hilton and the consensus is that the room rate price to use that code is quite inflated and does not really make up for the $100 credit back, but we’ll have to wait and see.
when the uncreative management takes power, they do useless stupid things like changing names/logos, moving teams around (structure or locations), institute new meetings…so their even more incapable upper management think they are doing something.
Exactly what I’ve been thinking this whole time. So they spend billions acquiring a company with some great properties and a rabidly loyal customer base. Then they spend millions forcing that base over to a new inferior technology infrastructure, over to a new, inferior version of the loyalty program, cut the earnings rate of the credit card by 33%, raise the requirements to achieve status, and add a whole bunch of new confusing layers of rules and exceptions to the rules. And then, to top it all off…completely rebrand everything under new made up words that will require millions of dollars in branding before anyone even starts to associate these new made up words with a value proposition they remember, thereby completely and utterly eliminating any benefit from acquiring brand equity in the SPG name that took decades to build and high esteem. They really need to send some of their executives back to business school because as I recall, this was first semester B school stuff.
don’t blame marriott for the changes. SPG is the one who put themselves on the auction block, and neither Hyatt nor the stupid Anbang shitstorm consortium were willing to put up the dough.
If you’re such a “rabid” and “loyal” supporter who are all hypothetically higher spenders, then it’s rather telling how that could possible result in SPG being auctioned off like Banksy art. that so-called loyal base is just bunch of loud mouths who doesn’t even live the life preached by their own gospel.
Spot on Henry. At the end of the day the SPG loyalty program tried to make up for a subscale hotel network. Now the network is scaled and a lot more convenient – which is what matters most to the highest spend biz travelers – who by the way are more rank and file types in companies than people think.
Agree with Henry and Greg!
Bye Bye, Rob.
Of course SPG was subscale. That wasn’t the point. The point was that Marriott paid a premium to acquire SPG, then dismantled the asset that drove the need to pay a premium, the brand loyalty (goodwill in accounting terms). This is the classic Buy vs. Build corp strategy decision. They also could have just used that $13b to build their own hotels or woo existing properties to Marriott if scale building was their goal and saved paying the premium. This was a post about poor corporate strategy, not whatever you guys are talking about “blaming marriott for the changes” huh?
So, you’re interpreting a bidding war as a sign that SPG failed in some way?
Don’t pay attention to what Greg and Hadley wrote. They are most likely part of the Marriott Online PR team that spends their time countering any criticisms of Marriott. Marriott has their hands full with all the negative publicity so they have a team of people working to counter it. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were all the same person posting under different names = classic online 101 “influencing” technique. The dead give away is the post by Hadley: “Bye bye Rob”
Sure, think whatever you want with your crazed conspiracy theories.
If you actually read my posts, I can be critical of Marriott, as well, especially since I am singularly unimpressed with their roll out of their new credit cards — but don’t let that stop that you from coming to a ridiculous conclusion.
As a long time Marriott loyalist, I am always bemused by the sense of entitlement from long-term SPGers, hence my comments to suck it up or leave the program.
Question: I haven’t had any of Mariott/SPG card (newish to the game). Are the new Bonvoy cards “new” cards. Can i get bonuses on the old cards now and then bonuses on the Bonvoy cards? Wondering if this a big points opportunity.
No, they aren’t considered new cards