Back in May, FCF took a clear position on this merger: It didn’t threaten the premium travel benefits available through the Starwood Amex Card. Our advice was to keep your card for at least the next 12 months.
Now that the merger is official (as of Sept. 23), some Starwood Amex cardholders may be suffering another round of anxiety regarding the card’s key benefits.
At this point, it appears that Marriott understands the delicacy of incorporating Starwood members into its program. All indications are that Marriott is proceeding with kid gloves, and that Marriott will likely give loyalty-program members advance warning about changes to either program.
[aside headline="Should I Get a Marriott Account and Link with Starwood?" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Why not? Even if you do not transfer points between the programs, an account gives you a Starwood elite-status match with Marriott. I have platinum status with Starwood, and by getting a Marriott account and by linking the two accounts (three if you include The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, which is part of Marriott Rewards), I also have Platinum status with Marriott (the process can take up to 24 hours) and with that, Silver United status.[/aside]
Transfers Still On
In short: Nothing has changed as far as being able to transfer Starwood points into miles with many airline partners.
The only major change is that you can now transfer points between the two programs. The conversion rate from Starwood Preferred Guest to Marriott Rewards is 1 to 3, and from Marriott Rewards to Starwood is 3 to 1.
The two programs will operate separately until 2018, leaving plenty of time to use your points as you have been.
The Good of Transferring Starwood Points to Marriott Rewards
Marriott’s Travel Packages: Options that offer airline miles in one of the partner airline programs plus seven nights free hotel accommodation. Marriott Rewards travel packages vary in cost based on the type of hotel category or tier you get with your miles.
Example #1—United
To keep the math simple: You can transfer 100,000 Starpoints and get 300,000 Marriott Rewards points, which you can then redeem for 132,000 United miles (enough for a Business Class award to southern South America, Europe, or Japan)—plus you also get a category six hotel free for seven nights. There are other deals worth exploring, including miles plus seven-night stays at Ritz Carlton.
[aside headline="When not to Transfer Points to Airline Miles with Marriott Rewards" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]A straight airline conversion transfer—Marriott’s Airline and Travel Rewards—from Marriott Rewards points to the airline’s mileage program is not as good a deal as the Starwood transfer rate. For example, it takes 420,000 Marriott Reward points to get 105,000 Lufthansa miles versus only 85,000 Starpoints.[/aside]
Category six hotels can often run $200 per night—so getting a week’s stay can have a value of around $1,400 more or less.
Example #2—Virgin Atlantic
With 400,000 Marriott Rewards points (134,000 Starpoints transfer) you get 100,000 Virgin Atlantic miles. That equals a Business Class award to London from many U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, plus you also get a Tier 3 hotel for seven nights free.
London Tier 3 hotels include The London EDITION, which usually goes for around £475 (about $620) per night, so a week’s stay could have a value of about $4,300+.
Conclusion
Over the next year, we think Marriott Rewards will make changes to align the programs, and give decent notice in order to move Starpoints around.
Until that happens, I am not going to worry about what to do with my Starpoints—instead I’m just going to continue to reap as usual, if not more with the Marriott Travel Packages.