Marriott / SPG Rewards, Overview and redeeming options

We will provide you with an overiew of the new Marriott / SPG Rewards loyalty scheme. Earlier this year Marriott has acquired SPG so we will provide you with and overview of the new unified Marriott rewards.

Participating Hotels

Due to the merge of Marriott and SPG, the portfolio of Marriott Rewards is really big and you should find a hotel of each end of the prize spectrum in all major regions around the world.The following brands are now part of Marriott Rewards:

• Ritz Carlton
• St. Regis
• Edition
• The Luxury Collection
• BVLGARI
• Westin Hotels
• JW Marriott
• Marriott Sheraton
• Delta Hotel
• Le Meriden
• Autograph Collection Hotels
• Design Hotels
• Rennaisance Hotels
• Tribute PportfolioGaylord Hotels
• Courtyard
• Four Pointy
• Springhill Suites
• Protea Hotels Fairfiels
• AC Hotels
• aLoft
• Moxy
• Residence Inn
• Townplace suite
• element

Different status level

The different status levels and qualifying requirements are the following:

• Member – Upon registering
• Silver Elite – 10 nights
• Gold Elite – 25 nights
• Platinum Elite – 50 nights
• Platinum Premiere Elite – 75 nights
• Platinum Premiere Elite with ambassador -100 night & 20k in spending

The major benefits of the different statuses are (benefits of lower tiers are included in higher ones):

• Member – Complimentary internet access
• Silver Elite – Priority Late checkout, 10% bonus points
• Gold Elite – Welcome Gift, Room upgrade, 25% bonus points
• Platinum Elite – Complimentary breakfast, upgrades to suites, lounge access, 50% bonus ponts
• Platinum Premiere Elite – 75 % bonus points, additional choice benefit (suite awards,ect,..)
• Platinum Premiere Elite with ambassador – better additional choice benefit

Earning points

10 reward points per $ spent on most brands. Depending on your elite level you will earn additional points.

There are more ways to earn some points like for example with special credit cards car rentals or by referring friends. A full list can be viewed here.

Redeeming points – Free hotel nights

Like with any other program, you can spend your points for free nights at every participating Marriott brand.

Currently, 7 hotel categories exist with redemption options from 7500 up to 60000 points for one night in general. The amount can differ due to peak and off-peak dates. You also have the possibility to use some cash and points for your redemption.

As with every program, the best way is to check how many points you need for a redemption and how many a standard room would cost you in terms of money to see if you will get a decent value out of your points. This is typically the case when redeeming your points for dates where the prize is really high. If you are able to get 6€ per 1000 points used, you are definitely not doing anything wrong with your redemptions.

Redeeming points – Redeem points for airline miles

This could be the best thing of Marriott Rewards. You can transfer your points to nearly every mature airline at a decent rate, an on top you will receive 15000 extra points for every 60000 you transfer. Therefor, we always recommend transferring in chunks of 60000 to profit from the transfer bonus. At nearly every airline, you will receive 1 mile for every 3 points redeemed. Only the following Airline programs give you a different transfer ration of miles – award points:

• Air New Zealand 1 : 200
• Jet Blue 1 : 6
• United 1,1 : 3

Due to the fact that you can transfer your points to nearly all major airlines you can alway keep your reward points in case you are short of miles. Furthermore in the past you often had the possibility to buy points with a discount, which literally allowed you to buy airline miles via this way.

Redeeming points – More possibilities

As with nearly all other loyalty schemes, Marriott Rewards also allows you to redeem you points for like travel packages or gif cards. Af full list is available here. This might make sense if for example a travel package to your destination exists, but is hard to evaluate in this article.

Conclusion

The Marriott / SPG loyalty scheme is decent in terms of member benefits and participating hotels. However the reason why it is such a wonderful program is the possibility to redeem you points for airline miles at a good rate allowing you to top off nearly every mileage account if you need those extra miles for your flight.