You might also like:
AFTER months of negotiations and talks, Marriott International officially closed its US$13 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
More than 5,800 properties and 1.1 million rooms will now fall under Marriott’s belt, which accounts for one in every five hotel rooms in the world.
The deal was closed after a series of negotiations, delayed votes, fluctuating stock prices, and a surprise bid. In March, Marriott’s attempt was temporarily halted by an all-cash bid by Chinese insurance giant Ambang, but the offer was soon followed by a withdrawal.
While analysts, investors and businesses alike were surprised by the news of the acquisition, the pressing question for frequent travelers is: How will this affect my loyalty points?
Well, the two brands will operate their rewards program separately for the next two years before a system is implemented to merge the two, which will eventually phase out the Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG) program.
Breaking News: https://t.co/idYr5XiV7L
Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott’s executive vice president and global chief commercial officer, told Travel + Leisure: “The earliest that we would combine the two programs will be 2018. You can imagine all of the complexities involved with the respective partners .”
But the great thing for consumers is that they will be able to link their accounts and match their status from day one.
This means that starting today, both Marriott Rewards and SPG members can log onto members.marriott.com to transfer points and match their elite status on both platforms.
Existing reward points can be exchanged for free stays at properties across the Marriott-Starwood portfolio, which comes as good news for members of both programs.
In an interview with USA Today, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said, “We did want to deliver real benefits to our customers immediately.”
We have been working for the last number of months to see whether we couldn’t get to a place to deliver at least some of the benefits of the total portfolio to members of both Marriott Rewards and SPG.”
Marriott, Starwood merge to create hospitality giant https://t.co/Q4UWuRJDOv pic.twitter.com/Yqs5bVPNXe
But Sorenson was less certain about a timeline for the two programs to be fully merged. He said, “If we could wave a wand and make that happen overnight, that would be wonderful. That involves much more complicated technology.”
On top of that, members can choose to transfer points to a 3:1 ratio as three Marriott Rewards points is equivalent to one SPG Starpoint. Besides stays, points can also be redeemed for exclusive experiences, tickets to entertainment and sports events, and credits to purchase merchandise online.
Fortune reports that by linking the two programs from the get go, guests can book reward stays at an expanded number of properties that were previously not available to members of just one of the loyalty programs.
This means that a Marriott Rewards members can redeem nights at Maldives or Bora Bora, while an SPG member can reserve nights at Aruba or Tuscany.
Marriott Rewards will retain its partnership with JPMorgan Chase while SPG will stick to American Express in association with the SPG Card.
Meanwhile, Sorenson added that Marriott customers tend to book rooms directly on their hotel sites, which means that the company won’t have to fork out commissions to online booking sites or travel agencies.
In terms of internal company and brand cultures, it’s apparent that both companies employ similar core values like “taking care of each other”.
In an interview with Skift, Marriott HR chief David Rodriguez said, “When I’ve talked to people at Starwood and I describe what Marriott culture is about, they get excited. They say, ‘That’s really what our values are, too’.”
The post Marriott completes Starwood buyout, but what does this mean for you? appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com