A Timeline Of Upcoming Critical Dates For The Starwood AMEX Bloodbath And The Starwood-Marriott Merger!

if my starpoints are set to expire in August – will then get a new 24 months once they convert to Marriot points?

what point based cc would you recommend starting in aug?

Hey Dan- any idea what happens to points spent on spg credit card before aug 18 but didn’t post yet- will they be 3x or 2x thanks

Great info, want to book 4 nights in November using SPG points at the The Westin Resort & Spa, Cancun, based on the info you provided, the value should be the same now or later so it doesn’t matter if i book now or later, right?

i’m totally lost with all this i just know that i have app 50,000 spg points what should i do with them sell them? buy more points to get to 60,000? or 90,000 points?? not planning on going a/w in the near future whats my best bet to buy more points then book a travel is there any way i can get back better then what i book now
thanx for helping out even us the ignoramus ones

Hi,
If I have both spg Amex and chase Marriott will I get two free nights every year or only one since the number will merge?

Same question if I have both business and regular Spg do I get free night for each one?

Is there any way to get the cheaper hotel rate (for a Marriott hotel that’s getting cheaper) early? If I call, any chance they will allow it?

Hi Dan,
I am booking a rewards stay with Marriott property that is 40000 per night for 3 nights but is being downgraded to 35000 a night when the merger completes. Currently my reservation says 40000 per night. My reservation is from august 16-18. Am I able to contact Marriott on August 1st to have the reward value changed since I will be overcharged by 15000 Marriott points because of the changes in category?

If I’m just trying to fly to Israel and have enough points to do the 90k transfer, is it still best to do that now or will the ElAl option be something better? Also, is United the best deal of the 90k transfers? Thanks for all your research!!

really thanx for responding btw we just got an email this week from elal that will pay the 3080 x2 passengers plus all expenses we had to get to airport etc getting close to 2k we used the wording s/o posted and sounds like worked magic w/o any back and forth thanx again

“You can call to get an adjustment on hotel awards that go down in price on this date, you won’t need to actually cancel the stay to get a points adjustment”

One mile at the time is reporting this to not be true after his conversation with David Flueck. Points will not be refunded. You have to make a new reservation.

I’ve been doing all my business purchasing on the SPG card I think I will now be switching to the new Chase ink any better ideas for spending?

Is there a way to transfer marriot points between spouses after the merger? As my current marriot rewards is under my name and the spg is under my wife’s name

“SPG will launch their new $450/year luxury AMEX card later in August”, do you have an exact date for this?

“New airline transfer options including El Al will be added on this date.
”

What do you mean by this?

After February 2019, when a new name launches, will the Starwood Card (and $450 Starwood Card) get a new name ? Or SPG will stay and just the points system will get a new name, where there would be Marriot Chase Cards & Starwood Amex Cards ?

I can not imagine the falloff of spending that Amex will incur with the changes

This post is golden. Thank you, Dan!

If I book a Spg hotel and cancel it for example in November, will those points that will revert back to my account triple?

Hi I have a 85000 SPG points. I have no need for the 7 night hotel stay. should I still buy points just to get the second night hotel stay refunded?

My wife and I have been accumulating SPG points so we can do a big 10 year anniversary trip to a location that has those villas on the water. We have 100k starpoints saved up. In looking at SPG, these are all category 7 hotels at SPG. I would like to make use of the Marriott Points+Miles program, but I want to do it right. If I move over my starpoints to marriott, then I should get the 7 night certificate in a category 7 hotel, and then book the hotel between 8/2 and 8/18, right? Or, should I be getting a higher category hotel certificate?

Ned a replacement for Amex spg. The Chase Freedom has a foreign transaction fee and most of my business spend is in foreign currency.

What’s next next?

i have 100k starwoods and don’t go away…should i sell now or no difference to after the merger ????

I currently have marriot points and Starwood’s points. Should I transfer one to the other or leave them???

Is the last day to purchase the travel certificates still July 31?

Hi Dan, im thinking of purchasing a nights & flights package. My upcoming travel is already booked so I have no plans as of yet for these miles. Which do you think is more valuable – 132,000 United Miles or 120,000 Alaska Miles? Thanks!

Currently on my SPG Amex and my Marriott Visa (both personal and business) each $3000 spend earns 1 night towards status.

I understand that will not be the case with the new cards. But, will it continue to be the case with the old cards or is that benefit going away?

I have about 600,000 SPG points right now and about 200,000 Marriott points.. That’ll be 2 million marriott points after the merge. Is that a lot?

hey dan ,
how will you get to throw the first pitch in the world series if you wont use the spg card anymore?

My spg renewal fee was posted in July, you think there is any way I can get them to give me a free night this year?

Dan,

Now that SPG will drop to 2 points per dollar….what’s the game plan on where to put the spend? Any reason not to back the truck up with Chase UR? How many points per dollar will the Marriott card earn?

As always you are the MAN. Sorry Cavs will suck again…at least you had your Championship!!!!

The Flying Jew (Moshe)

Dan-
I’ll have 600 MR nights and 2m lifetime points and 170 SPG nights and 160K lifetime points by Dec 31. Confused as to whether or not I’ll qualify for lifetime Premier Platinum. Total Plat years unknown (Marriott won’t reveal until August the tweeted at me!) will this be the decider? Thanks

What about the 30k upgrades?per category is that ending soon.?

Should also add final date for Sheraton Lounge Access 8/1

It still completely baffles me how this whole tsunami of 2 banks issuing multiple old and new cards and it didn’t dawn on them that they needed to make at least one of their cards earn 3x points to keep the value proposition for the spenders. Make it a premium card and charge extra annual fee or something. It’s just weird. It’s like a company buying Pizza Hut and stripping Pizza from the menu but saying customers will be better off now because everyone will now get a free pot roast once a year.

I have a few Marriott accounts, some with made up names, what’s the best way to combine them?

I have 85,000 spg and don’t need the travel certificate. Should I buy one anyway to get it refunded? I would need to buy 5000 more points too. Can anyone advise?

“Afterward, you can merge your SPG and Marriott accounts and use the new merged website and award chart.”
I have the spg card with a lot of starpoints but no card linked to marriot. Do I need a marriot CC for the merger?

what if Marriott will not refund 150,000 points. Does it make sense to purchase a cat 1-5 7 night certificate to receive the 132K united miles, knowing that i probably wont be able to use the hotel certificate?

thank you dan for all the ideas

1)the hotel certificate has to be 7 nights in a row , or I could use some nights here and some there ?

2 ) if I don’t need hotels does it still pay , or just transfer to aegea ?

I’m Gold Elite and have a hotel stay 8/24-8/26. Will I get the breakfast on the last day or will I be cut off? 😉

Hi Dan
My statement posted yesterday and I assume starpoints will be posted to my account by tomorrow. If today I spend the $5,000 needed for me to get to 90,000 miles will those star points not post til August 18, making it too late for me to buy a travel package?

Any idea if Spg moments will be effected ?

I would like to buy the lucrative package however I’m planning to use the hotel stay next year in August do you think I should buy it now would they honor it because only good for one year or they let me extended?

Dan,
In November I did the United 30% Transfer Bonus: 90K SPG Into 157K Miles And 7 Nights In A Marriott Hotel! Does this merger/devaluation affect anything from that vacation package I already own?
And what would canceling it do?
(Just a reminder to anyone that did it – it expires in Nov 2018)

Dan,

It shows the St. Regis Maldives will drop to 85K in points but i remember seeing a previous post you said it would be 60k. Is there some secret sauce I’m missing to get the 60k rate?

What is the fair value to sell SPG points to someone if you arent planning on redeeming the points?

@Dan So what happens to the value of SPG/Marriott points after the merger?

Will the free nights expire or can they be saved from one year to the next?

If i have two SPG Amex card and my wife has two SPG Amex cards; that means I get a total of four free nights…correct?

Is July 31st the last day to make purchases or does it have to post by then? What if the payment posts on August 2nd? Will you still get 3 Marriott points?

Where exactly is the bloodbath? Read the whole article, don’t see any explanation of it.

would there be any way to set 2 nights of the certificate to only get 5 nights and keep the 35k points? any data points on that?

Will SPG points transfer upon Merger as lifetime Marriott points? I have 1.8 million lifetime Marriott and 70k currently available SPG points.

Dan, do you recommend purchasing 7 night certificates sooner, or wait until right before the August 17 deadline in case more information comes out?

Can I use my marriot yearly free night voucher for sheraton hotel after august 18?

@Dan Do you recommend transferring Chase ultimate reward points to Marriott and then to SPG before August 18th?