Wow what news this month. There were long rumors going around that Starwood will be bought. The rumors reached from Hyatt, Wyndham, and IHG buying Starwood all the way to a chinese Investment Group.
Now we know the answer. Starwood got bought by Marriott. I didn’t expect that at all and as it seems no one else either.
But now new rumors emerging about what will happen with the loyalty programs? Marriott has it’s “Marriott Rewards” program and Starwood the much better “Starwood Preferred Guest”. A couple of days ago, before the announcement of Marriott, I obtained the much desired Platinum Status with SPG. But what will change? We don’t know. Rumors and Rumors going around about what will happen to this loyalty programs. We won’t know for sure until shortly before the official announcement.
To calm the travel community down, Arne Sorenson CEO of Marriott talked to the community in a video message on YouTube.
I hope, Marriott really takes the best of SPG and adds it to Marriott Rewards. This would be then really exciting news.
With this merger, Marriott becomes the biggest hotel chain in the world with 1.1 Million rooms across 5500 hotels and resorts in over 100 countries in the world.
For now everything remains the same and both programs are still separate. You still will earn your SPG points or Marriott Rewards points and all the promotions will still work at both programs. Some bloggers advise to stop using SPG. I am still loving their program and rewards and they have the better hotels across the world, where you actually want to redeem your points. But if you want to change your preferred hotel and go completely away from either one, then have a look at Hyatt. They just announced a Diamond Status Match if you have Platinum Status with SPG. Hyatt’s Diamond Status is the top-tier level for their loyalty program.
Just tweet to @HyattConcierge and request your status match. Send an email with your Hyatt Gold Passport number and a screenshot of your account overview to goldpassport@hyatt.com. To get the status match you need to have at least one stay with one of the competitors, you are using to request your match, this year. I tried to request it via Twitter, but they have been inundated with requests and want you to Email them instead. You get matched as followed:
- Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond if you are SPG Platinum
- Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum if you are SPG Gold or any other level with any other hotel
Please allow up to 14 business days to get a response.
I proactively send a direct message to Hyatt Concierge with my Gold Passport Number, and screenshots of my top tier level at different hotel chains. Now I am waiting to see if I get matched. A lot of people requesting a match right now. Hyatt used to offer a Diamond Status Challenge where you have to get a certain amount of stays or nights in a short period of time. With the Status Match you will get Diamond Status immediately.
As mentioned above, Hyatt wants you to email the Gold Passport team instead of using Twitter. The strange thing was, that I got matched right away the next day to Hyatt Gold. Now I am waiting to get approved for Diamond level.
Peter has a passion for Traveling, Photography, and Geocaching. These are the best ingredients for amazing adventures all over the globe. “Traveling is fun, no matter if you stay in a luxury hotel or travel like a backpacker.” Peter shares his experiences on his Blog www.gatetoadventures.com
Some of Peter’s photos are published on corporate websites, in-flight magazines, travel guides, and much more.
