On Sunday I wrote about the plethora of fiascos, unforced errors, and downright sleaziness that have summed up the past few weeks since Marriott gobbled up the beloved SPG loyalty program.
Marriott struck again today by lowering the total lifetime night count that people have.
Marriott has never made it clear what exactly counts for lifetime nights. Do credit card nights count or not? There is no breakdown of the calculation.
My own count dropped by 10 nights without any notification, but some DDF members lost as many as 50 nights!
You can view your lifetime nights by logging in, clicking on overview, and clicking on the lifetime status arrow.
Previous count:
New count:
Then again my elite status level has climbed from Platinum to Platinum Premier. Once again, without any notification or explanation.
Some members were able to enroll in United Silver status for being a Marriott Platinum member after the program merger, but then Marriott raised the level required to earn United Silver status to Platinum Premier status.
All in all, Marriott is in one giant IT mess right now and it sure makes one wonder why they kept their own inept system instead of keeping Starwood’s system.
Given how they intentionally took their loyalty members to the cleaners by withholding critical information on the travel packages and then refused to allow any changes to them as had been previously allowed after they downgraded everyone’s packages, it’s hard to tell how much of this mess should be attributed to incompetence and how much should be attributed by malevolence.
Either way it’s not pretty and it will cost Marriott in the short and long term.
Did you lose lifetime nights today?
HT: Lucky
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45 Comments On "Marriott’s Latest Fiasco: Clawing Back Lifetime Nights"
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I lost 10 lifetime nights
i lost 80 lifetime nights!
I went from 502 to 422 so I thankfully maintained lifetime gold (400) but that’s a big hit when trying to reach Platinum at 600.
@Dan Do you think it’s just a data glitch?
I just spoke to an SPG rep that actually knew what was going on (finally). She explained that they clawed back all 2018 nights which will post and add to our totals in 2019.
Lost 2, bringing me down to 248
I lost 5 lifetime nights
How do you have so few night and so many years as a Platinum, especially considering your age?
What, you haven’t had status since you were 13 š
It’s years combined from Marriott and SPG.
Yes, but the number of nights is really low for that many years? Even at 25 stays=Platinum.
I only lost 3 lifetime nights, but now when I check my status on the Marriott app I went from Liftetime Platinum Premier Elite to just Platinum Premier Elite.
Great job Accenture! Fantastic public-facing example of the high-quality consulting work you do for your clients like Marriott. Major systems migration is not easy work. It requires careful planning, strategy, design, execution, and most importantly, testing. A talented, mature team is critical for transformational projects like this. When your projects are led by new college graduates managing teams of offshore software developers this is what you get. Clients often get fixated on the hourly rates they pay per resources. Accenture has some of the lowest rates in the industry, but you get what you pay for. Should have trusted a firm with an experienced on-site team to mitigate risky projects like this one.
My cousin is a software developer consultant. He says everyone wants “Good, Cheap, and Fast”. His answer is generally, “You can only get 2 out of 3. You choose.”
Yup. I see you are in the industry? Who do you work for and why do you like it there? (In all seriousness, not a joke.)
A little off topic but as I understand it when you use the Starwood card you get 2 Marriott points for every purchase. If that is true then why is it so terrible to use the Starwood card considering that you are still getting 2 times the points for everything you purchase + more for other categories? I know that many are taking this merger personally as loyal Starwood users. I get that 3 times the points is better then 2. But given that the merger is a done deal and we have to move on with life isn’t it still better to use the Starwood card and get 2 points for ever purchase especially if you want to use for hotel stays. So in reality when I stay at a property that requires 70k points a night, I am really just paying 35k. What am I missing here?
had same question..plus many hotels got cheaper, so the points go a little further
Congrats. Marriott has successfully confused you.
The SPG card used to earn points that were valued at 3x Marriott points. Thatās because SPG hotels were presumably 3x fewer points per night.
Now, youāre redeeming hotels at the elevated Marriott valuation, but earning a 1/3 fewer points on your credit card spend.
In a one sentence, SPG gave you one dollar, Marriott gives you two quarters.. (not exact but you get the concept) That’s why they charge 70k per night, they charge in querters.
I get that spg points are devalued but that point is moot and there is nothing to do about it. Hot dogs use to cost a nickle and so did a NY subway token but can’t dwell in the past and we got more important things to worry about now like who wrote the op-ed story in the NYT! To clarify, the question is if you are planning on staying at any spg/Marriott properties, doesn’t it make sense to still use the spg card as this way at least you are getting double points so in reality your stays are costing you half the points? Yes, it was great when spg hotels were 20k, but I see that the other hotel chains (Hilton, Hyatt) are more in sync with Marriots point system so not sure they are a better deal. So if someone could please explain why it doesn’t make sense to use the spg card if you are going to be using the points for hotel stays? Is there a better way to accrue spg points? Is there a better way to accrue other hotel chain points and do they have there equivalent hotels that are priced substantially less in miles?
They “got” you.
Point requirement are climbing in February. That 60K hotel can cost over 100K then.
The beauty of the card was the hedge against inflation provided by airline miles. You could always get 1.25 miles per dollar spent. Now that it’s 0.84 miles per dollar, that hedge is gone. Marriott can devalue freely and you will be at their mercy.
Understood, Marriot took away a great product but that still does not answer the question, what is the alternative if you want to use your miles for hotel stays? I know you advocate Chase but besides for the fact that I wouldn’t be surprised at some point if they change their rules, why and how are they currently better if I want to use my points for a hotel stay? What hotel chain is better to accrue points for stays, a nice Hilton hotel is also not cheap and again if you use your spg card you are still paying half (for as long as that lasts) so if one night is 100k, it will only be 50k if you got your points through your spg card, while for Hilton will be 70+. Forgetting the past and focusing on the future, what are the best options to go forward?
Freedom Unlimited/Quadfecta>Hyatt
Thanks, yes I see that their points are more in line with the old SPG points. I hardly used them in the past but always a good time to start.
Unfortunately, not as many hotels as SPG but looks like a good place to begin (at least until Hyatt decides to do some price changing).
Thanks again for all your help.
Where do I go to check my lifetime nights count? Marriott website is driving me nuts š
Couldn’t find it anywhere despite following an example in a blog where there’s was clearly showing, but when I use the app everything shows up. Just login and tap the marriott icon until you get to My Account. It should say # of nights and if you click on that it pops up years of elite status as well.
Dan I was gold with SPG before merger what level should I be after combining accounts?
whats lifetime nights?
It’s how many nights you have left to live.. š
So, how many more articles crying about how terrible Marriott ais re there gonna be, anyway?
can someone provide a link to contact the right department that deals with these elite nights not showing? i am having trouble getting it to show on my account and everytime I contact someone they keep sendign me to different departments i feel like I am going in circles if someone can provide a direct direct link thank you
It’s a waste of energy at this point. They aren’t done with figuring out all of the ways they screwed up the integration and how to fix it so the reps aren’t empowered to fix anything like that. There status page says it will be fixed “in coming weeks.”
@dan do you think we have any recourse for reinstatement of the lost nights. No explanation and no methodology that we could check to confirm accuracy seems like the type of thing we can fight.
Marriott (and all these reward programs) plays on people’s egos (I’m Platinum Elite! Oh yeah? I’m Lifetime Elite!! Well I’m Triple Diamond Plat Super Elite!!! -since I was 13!!…etc.) so I’m sure they were fully aware of the kind of petulant rage these people are capable of when messing with those highly revered titles. Now it’s just a matter of sitting back and waiting for all these tantrums to run themselves out. Probably not a lot of fun for Marriott, but fun for the rest of us mere mortals (non-elites) to behold. Now that’s entertainment! š
I lost 25 lifetime nights. š Just e-mailed them so we shall see what kind of runaround I get. Might have to run back to Hyatt! I’ve been Diamond/Globalist with them for the past 10 years…next year will be my first that I’m not.
Where does this expression of “clawing back” come from? Is it a dd invention, or is it used everywhere?
Makes me think of eagels ripping apart rabbits.
Not a dansdeals-specific term
Often used in bankruptcy court, where payments were made to a preferred creditor and they are “clawed back” to distribute fairly to everyone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clawback
I have 700+ lifetime nights between SPG and Marriott. Along with 4 SPG Plat and 5 Marriott Plat years. Is there a reason I need to be in a rush to get my 10th Platinum year (combined) before the year is up?
How do i know when my current status is about to expire?
I lost 57 nights. Now I’m below 750. I’ll probably mattress run the extra nights in order to get United Silver. Very annoying especially now that the $60 off $300 Amex offer from SPG is gone from my cards.
i called up and they said while trying to “combine all the data” they’re not sure where 100k+ of my (SPG!!) points went but they should be back in “in another 2 weeks or so” did this happen to anyone!?!?
DOES PLAT PREMIER STAY FOR 2019 OR NEED TO REQUALIFY?
While a bit off topic, it may not be so unrelated in the end. I’ve been staying at the same Residence in by Marriott in Massachusetts since May, and watched the quality steadily decline from then until now (early Sept). The “free” breakfast has gone from cheddar slices to sliced American cheese slices, the bread from a nice multi-grain to an overly-sweet, barely-fits-the-toaster, air-filled who knows what species of bread, not to mention new front-desk staff who are clearly either not properly trained, or not motivated to be helpful, or both.
so if i have the spg, spg business, and marriot premier … should put me at 45 nights already ??
meaning i would only need 5 might to go platinum?
dude how were you platinum for that many years and only have 280 nights? I have been platinum for 10 years and have 1724 nights.