Marriott has updated their website and it now says that the merged Marriott-Starwood program will launch on August 18th. Previously it had only said “Coming in August.”
In February the merged program will get a new name as well.
You’ll want to book awards before the programs merge on August 18th.
On August 18th the new award chart below and new elite status levels will launch, while the next award chart launches sometime in February:
| Previous Starwood Chart | Previous Previous Marriott Chart | August 2018 Combined Chart | February 2019 Combined Chart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 6,000 (Weekends) 9,000 (Weekdays) | 7,500 | 7,500 | 5,000 off-peak 7,500 standard 10,000 peak |
| Category 2 | 9,000 (Weekends) 12,000 (Weekdays) | 10,000 | 12,500 | 10,000 off-peak 12,500 standard 15,000 peak |
| Category 3 | 21,000 | 15,000 | 17,500 | 15,000 off-peak 17,500 standard 20,000 peak |
| Category 4 | 30,000 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 20,000 off-peak 25,000 standard 30,000 peak |
| Category 5 | 36,000 off-peak 48,000 peak | 25,000 | 35,000 | 30,000 off-peak 35,000 standard 40,000 peak |
| Category 6 | 60,000 off-peak 75,000 peak | 30,000 | 50,000 | 40,000 off-peak 50,000 standard 60,000 peak |
| Category 7 | 90,000 off-peak 105,000 peak | 35,000 | 60,000 | 50,000 off-peak 60,000 standard 70,000 peak |
| Category 8 | - | 40,000 | - | 70,000 off-peak 85,000 standard 100,000 peak |
| Category 9 | - | 45,000 | - | - |
| Ritz Tier 1 | - | 30,000 | - | - |
| Ritz Tier 2 | - | 40,000 | - | - |
| Ritz Tier 3 | - | 50,000 | - | - |
| Ritz Tier 4 | - | 60,000 | - | - |
| Ritz Tier 5 | - | 70,000 | - | - |
Short on Starpoints/Marriott points?
Read more about the merger in these posts:
Related Marriott-SPG merger posts:
- AMAZING! Marriott’s New Award Chart Is A Dream Come True For Aspirational Hotels; Roundup Of The Hotel Category Changes
- Don’t Wait: Book Hotel Awards Now Before The Starwood-Marriott Merger!
- Hunting Down The Marriott Hotels Getting More Expensive To Potentially Maximize Travel Certificates
- Exploring The Options For A Partial Points Refund Of The Marriott Travel Packages, Which Package Should You Buy Now?
- Marriott Has No Plans On Letting Us Know What They Plan On Doing With Current Travel Packages, But Don’t Let That Stop You From Taking Advantage Of Them!
- Where Will You Be Able To Use Chase Marriott And Starwood Anniversary Nights?
- Another Guess At What Will Happen With Marriott’s Miles+Nights Travel PackagesAnd Which You Should Buy Now Before It’s Too Late!
- Breaking Down The New Marriott/Starwood Combined Cash+Points And PointSavers Award Charts
- Marriott Will Massively Devalue New Miles+Nights Travel Packages In August;Comparing The Value Of The Current Packages To The New Packages
- Final Opportunity: Get 35% Off The Purchase Of Starwood Starpoints; Buy The Points You Need To Take Advantage Of These 7 Awesome Redemptions!
- Get A 75,000 Point Signup Bonus On The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card!
- Live Blog: Follow The Marriott-Starwood Program Merger Announcement!
- 3 Starwood AMEX Cards In The New Marriott Program: A Comparison Chart Of The Good, The Bad, And The Horrific
- Comparison Chart: How Marriott’s August 2018 And February 2019 Award Chart Compares With The Current SPG And Marriott Award Charts
- Marriott Got Almost Everything Perfect, But The Starwood AMEX Cuts Are Just Too Painful
- Rack Up The Starpoints While You Still Can: There Will Be 6 Months Of Amazing Starwood Hotel Bargains!
- No Marriott, The Starwood AMEX Card Will Not Be Richer Than Ever. You Are Just Changing What I’ll Use It For
- Starwood-Marriott Merger FAQs: Answers To Your Questions About Anniversary Nights, Status From Existing Cards, And More
- The Starwood Consumer AMEX And Multiple Chase Marriott Cards Are Being Discontinued! Here’s What You Need To Know About 9 Starwood And Marriott Cards
- Will The Starwood Cards Disappear Or Lose Their Starpoints Signup Bonuses Today? Now Is The Time To Signup If You Don’t Have These Cards Yet!
- AMEX: 3 Starwood Cards Will Be Available For New Applications After The SPG-Marriott Program Merger In August
- Guesstimating Where Marriott Travel Packages Will Work In August; Take Advantage Of Marriott’s Lucrative Miles+Nights Packages Now!
- A Week Later, But No Solid Answers To 3 Contradictory Marriott-Starwood Merger Details That Everyone Wants To Know
- Marriott Clarifies Contradictory SPG Gold Information
- Roundup Of The SPG/Marriott Lifetime Status Rules; Will You Be Able To Hit Lifetime Status This Year Before The Lifetime Program Is Devalued?
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53 Comments On "Marriott Announces The Launch Date For Marriott-Starwood Program Merger!"
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Can you explain why they’re doing it in two steps instead of one total change with the new name and final award chart?
Doorbuster sale pricing?
Air Canada announces hostile bid to buy back Aeroplan program
After announcing its intention last year to cut ties with Aeroplan and begin its own loyalty rewards program in 2020, Air Canada now says it’s launching a bid to buy Aeroplan outright, for a cash purchase price of $250 million.
In a release on Wednesday, Air Canada announced that, in partnership with TD, CIBC, and Visa it has made a proposal to Aimia Inc. (Aeroplan’s parent company), “to acquire its Aeroplan loyalty business (including approximately $2 billion of Aeroplan points liability at March 31, 2018) for $250 million in cash (the “Proposed Transaction”), representing a total purchase price of approximately $2.25 billion.”
The transaction, if accepted, “will ensure value and continuity for their members as well as customers of Air Canada, TD, CIBC and Visa,” the company said in a release.
The move follows an announcement by Aeroplan last week that it was planning to launch its own charter flights once its partnership with Air Canada is over.
“Air Canada has heard from thousands of customers that, in addition to expecting a better loyalty program, they would prefer to transfer their Aeroplan Miles to the new loyalty program,” the company said. “We’re investing in this deal to deliver exactly that – if this bid to acquire Aeroplan is successful, customers’ Aeroplan Miles would transfer into the new loyalty program.”
Does this mean you can buy travel packages until the 18th?
Unknown, they can stop selling those whenever they feel like it.
By that you mean, anything after Aug. 1 right? They can’t just stop before then, after giving Aug. 1 as the merger date?
Does that mean the last day to purchase travel packages is Aug 17?
Darn! My plans are for a few days prior and my Hotel is going down. 🙁
Same here 🙁
Dan can you please tell us where your going ? im dying get to know
I have a stay starting on 8/16 for seven nights, will they credit back the difference from 8/18 and on?
Unlikely, though if you book it as a couple of separate reservations and the cancel policy isn’t too onerous it could work out.
Good point. I cancel and book my first two Nights at 10K per night, and book my next five nights at 8333K and still get my free night.
Good luck!
Does this mean we have until Aug. 17 to book the travel packages at the old rates, or still July 31? What about the ability to earn 3 pts/$ on the Starwood card?
No idea when they’ll stop selling those.
SPG AMEX 3/1 ends 7/31.
if the program is only first merging on August 18th why would the one for 3 points end earlier?
Curious about this as well. Amex has specifically said that 7/31 transactions postings are the last date that earn 1x SPG (3x MRP)? That is what they’ve told me over chat, but that was prior to 8/18 program merge announcement.
Will i still earn spg points on the cc till aug 18th?
No.
I have 43 nights ytd need another 7 to get the 10 suite nights do I have now till the 18th?
You should.
Can I use a tier 1-3 certificate to book at the St Regis Maldives now, or do I have to wait until August 1st?
You may not be able to use it there at all. Depends on which option Marriott chooses.
You can’t use it there now.
the st Regis Maldives would not be applicable to most people who dont have lots of spy points to what you said when you suggested earlier this’s week to book at today’s rates and call for a price adjustment later as people will be grabbing rooms once the merger completes .am I saying this correctly? Thanks
FWIW I called SPG about my stay that is Aug 15-20th. They said I would not get an the updated rate (60k) even for the last two nights because my cancelation date (Aug. 11) is before the merger goes through. Any suggestions?
You can try making a separate reservation for the 18th-20th and call to get an adjustment without cancelling. Super risky though as you’ll lose the 5th free night that way,
The Starwood representative on Flyertalk says that all travel package certificates will be cancelled and converted to points. So people can buy these now even if they don’t want to stay in the same hotel for 7 consecutive nights.
so is the new award chart starts aug 1st or 18th?
Read the post?
Dan, does that mean we can still exchange for Marriott travel package until 8/18? Thanks.
Please read the previous comments.
How accurate is this? it was on a previous post:
S. Regis Princeville, now 90K (SPG category 7), will be 60K (Combined category 7) in August, will be 85K in February (Combined category 8)
on their website it shows different…
It’s accurate.
amazing, thank you!
Thanks Dan! What is the last day my SPG card will earn me 3 M points?
I just bought a 7 night travel package with 132,000 United miles. Worst case scenario I converted some Starwood points to United miles at 3.3 United miles for each Starwood point. I have no intention on using th travel certificate. I will just get the points refunded when they cancel. The certificate.
Which category did you buy, 1-5?
how are you getting 3.3 United per 1 SPG? wasn’t it 132K United from 90K SPG? or am I missing something
I bought a Tier 1-3 certificate w/ 132 UA miles for 420,000 Marriott points (140k SPG). When Marriott cancels the certificate and refunds the points, they will refund me at a minimum 300,000 points. If that’s the case, then I paid 120k Marriott (40K SPG) for 132k UA miles (i.e. 3.3 UA miles for each SPG).
All of the packages yield the same amount of UA miles. Is there any reason you chose Tier 1-3 if you are not looking to use the hotel certificate?
Potentially higher conversion rate when the certificate is cancelled, if they say that Tier 3 maps to 60k/night, then i would get back 360k….
Read Dan’s previous posts…
sell it on ddf
when buying a Marriott cert which you recommend more- 120K AS or 132K UA? no flying plans in near future
No one can answer that if you have no flying plans…
I have a reservation starting the 19th of August for 5 nights, and the Hotel will be 50k instead of 60k with this new chart, @Dan what do you recommend?
I would need to cancel my reservation by August 16th, is it worth taking the risk?
amazing news!
Got the category 6 cert for 300k SP.
Booked 7 days at cat 6 hotel in Mallorca May 2019.. Thank you Dan. Planning on sitting tight to see how the transition plays out.
Is this the right play? Or should I book a higher category hotel? For all my rereading I’m just a little confused with the conjecture on options.
You are an amazingly generous resource Dan. Thanks again.
Any indication if they will bring back the Delta crossover program that existed with SPG and ended 7/15/18?
It’s done.
If SPG cc statement closes on the 15th, will we get 2 Marriott points starting on July 15th or Until Aug first 3 and after 2?
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/marriott/upcoming-critical-dates-starwood-amex-bloodbath-starwood-marriott-merger/