Marriott, Starwood and Ritz-Carlton loyalty programmes merge into one

Marriott International yesterday announced one set of unified benefits across Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) for its members, putting to rest questions surrounding rewards benefits since its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide more than a year ago.

Beginning in August 2018, members will be able to combine their separate Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards and SPG accounts into a single account spanning the entire loyalty portfolio. The three programmes will continue to live on under the new set of unified benefits until a new programme name is introduced in 2019.

Marriott International Asia-Pacific’s president and managing director Craig S. Smith, and chief sales and marketing officer Peggy Fang Roe at the announcement

Travellers will be able to book stays and earn or redeem points across Marriott’s 29 global brands comprising 6,500 hotels in 127 countries and territories for the first time on Marriott.comSPG.com and the Marriott and SPG apps, or by contacting customer engagement centres.

Under the unified benefits, a single points currency will be introduced. In August, SPG members will see their points balance triple. SPG, Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will all earn 10 points for every dollar spent at all brands except for Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Element which will be five points per every dollar spent.

With bonuses, elite members will earn even more for stays. In August, all members will begin earning points for F&B and qualifying incidentals on their folio, rather than just the room rate.

Members will earn more points faster than under the prior programs — on average 20 per cent more points for every dollar spent

Next, all hotels throughout the loyalty portfolio will have no blackout dates for points redemptions. In addition, a Free Night Award chart with peak, standard and off-peak pricing will be adopted for all hotels. The chart, which will launch with standard pricing in August, will add off peak and peak in 2019.

Additionally, the Moments experiential platform is expanding, with more than 110,000 experiences in 1,000 destinations from must-see attraction tickets and tours for purchase with cash by all guests, to once-in-a-lifetime events only available to members using points, including the new bespoke Moments Live event series.

In the coming months, Marriott will provide members with information about how and when in August they can begin combining their loyalty accounts.

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