With how many brands the major hotel groups have nowadays, I think we all have brands we like more than others. I'm not talking about liking Ritz-Carlton more than Courtyard, for example, since one is a luxury brand and one is more of a budget brand.…
In August we saw Marriott and Starwood refresh their portfolio of credit cards, given the merger of the two loyalty programs. As part of this, American Express introduced an increased welcome bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card…
The St. Regis Princeville on the island of Kauai is one of the most aspirational Starwood properties in the US. There aren't many St. Regis resorts in the US, so this has been a popular place for redeeming Starpoints. Unfortunately it is being reported…
Reader Chris asked the following question in the Ask Lucky forum: "With all the changes made to the Marriott/SPG program and the credit card, Has anyone done any meaningful number crunching on whether its better to earn 3 Chase UR points or 6 Marriott…
For those of you not familiar with Amex Offers, it’s a program available through most Amex cards, where different cards are eligible for different savings and bonus offers. In many cases the offers can be huge, and more than offset the annual fee on…
With the loyalty programs of Marriott and Starwood having recently been merged, we’ve also seen some changes made to Starwood’s co-branded American Express cards, the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred…
With the loyalty programs of Marriott and Starwood having recently been merged, we've also seen some changes made to Starwood's co-branded American Express cards, the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred…
Marriott has just revealed the details of the first global promotion of their unified loyalty program. This new promotion is valid for stays between September 26, 2018, and January 31, 2019, and registration is valid through January 7, 2019. Through…
Different hotel loyalty programs have different policies as to how many points, elite qualifying stays, and elite qualifying nights you can earn if booking multiple rooms. In other words, if you often travel with family and book two rooms, can you receive…
Marriott integrated their three loyalty programs on August 18, 2018. That means that Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest became one. Sort of. The integration didn't go as smoothly as many of us were hoping, and for that…
Oh Marriott, Marriott, Marriott... The integration of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest hasn't gone as smoothly as many of us had hoped. Marriott took over Starwood about two years ago, and I appreciated their "slow and steady" approach to…
Marriott and Starwood's loyalty programs were combined nearly two weeks ago, and there are still lots of problems. On the plus side, I appreciate that status.marriott.com at least now acknowledges some of the issues, while previously they made it sound…
On August 23 the SPG Luxury Card was introduced, which is the new premium credit card with a $450 annual fee. The card offers the following perks:
Now that Marriott has merged their three loyalty programs, I wanted to share my updated thoughts on how much I think the points currency is worth. Let me start by saying that the valuation of points is always highly subjective, so if you come up with…
Just over a week ago Marriott merged their three loyalty programs. This was a big undertaking, though from a member's perspective I'd say the execution left a lot to be desired. I was finally able to combine my Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred…
Marriott integrated their three loyalty programs last weekend, so it has now been over a week since the new program was introduced. Now that they've had several days to figure things out, I thought I'd write this post to reflect on their performance,…
This month we've seen some big changes to the Marriott and Starwood credit card portfolio, which coincides with Marriott's new loyalty program launching. As part of this, American Express and Chase are adding new credit card approval restrictions as…
Yesterday the new SPG Luxury Card was introduced, which has a $450 annual fee. While this card makes sense for some, I don't necessarily think it's the best option for everyone, so I wanted to look at that in a bit more detail in this post. The SPG Luxury…
Earlier today I wrote about how the new Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card is now open to new applicants. The $450 annual fee card has a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 points upon completing minimum spend, and offers a $300 annual statement credit…
The much anticipated Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card is now open to new applicants. This is the most premium card available for Marriott & Starwood loyalists, and I imagine quite a few people will be interested in this. The SPG…
While the integration of Marriott and Starwood's loyalty programs took place over the weekend, there are still lots and lots of glitches. This integration is obviously a massive undertaking, so when I get comments from readers about how some account…
