The Points Mom

A New Unified Loyalty Program For Marriott, Ritz and Starwood…It Seems Really Good For Us!

There was big news today with respect to the loyalty programs of Marriott Rewards, Ritz Carlton Rewards and Starwood.  The main piece being that Marriott will introduce one set of unified benefits across all three loyalty programs in August of this year.  Some highlights of the changes coming are as follows… 1.  Members will be able […]

Read More…

The Fate Of Your American Express Starwood Cards

For all of you out there (Including myself) who, due to the merger, were concerned as to the fate of your American Express Starwood Preferred Guest cards, fear no more! Yesterday, Marriott announced that Chase AND American Express will remain credit-card issuers for the new ultimate combined loyalty program.  Marriott signed co-brand credit card agreements […]

Read More…

I Transferred Some SPG Points To My Marriott Rewards Account And It Was Fast And Easy

  Remember, if you link your SPG and Marriott Rewards accounts you can transfer between the two programs.  I linked my SPG account and my Marriott Rewards account awhile ago.  I just recently did my first transfer between my two accounts. Recall that the points transfer at a three-to-one ratio if you are are transferring from […]

Read More…

The Marriott Starwood Merger Is Complete-What Does That Mean For Us?

  It’s official!  Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts merged into one company.  Now members of SPG, Marriott Rewards and The Ritz Carlton Rewards are able to link their accounts at members.marriott.com. Despite the union, Marriott doesn’t expect to have a fully combined loyalty program until 2018, so the loyalty programs are still separate […]

Read More…

April 9th Email From Marriott About The Merger

Shareholder approval for the merger happened yesterday.  Today, Marriott sent the below email about the upcoming merger… “We’re excited to announce that we’ve secured shareholder approval for Marriott International to join together with Starwood Hotels & Resorts—a significant milestone towards creating the world’s largest lodging company and strongest loyalty program in the industry. Since we […]

Read More…

Marriott And Starwood Shareholders Approve The Merger

Yesterday, shareholders of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts voted to approve the merger between the two companies that will create the largest hotel chain in the world.  Recall Marriott recently won the bidding war to acquire Starwood and this approval was the next step in the merger process.  Onward they go… […]

Read More…

Starwood Gets Higher Offer Once Again From China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co.

Once again, China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. offered a superior competing bid to Marriott’s bid.  This time Anbang made a 14 billion dollar bid which exceeded Marriott’s latest 13.6 billion dollar bid.  Starwood is considering the offer and I look forward to seeinf what Marriott’s next move will be.  However, some lodging analysts think that […]

Read More…

The email From Marriott About The Merger

  “As a valued member, we’re excited to share the news that Marriott International will join together with Starwood Hotels & Resorts to create the world’s largest hotel company. For our Marriott Rewards members, this will mean even more choices in even more places, giving you access to 1.1 million rooms across 5,500 hotels in […]

Read More…