Big changes to American Airlines’ international flight destinations

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• Neal says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:06

  Before the SPG/Marriott merger on 18th of August I remembered ex Marriott Platinum will get new program Platinum Premier? I had Marriott Platinum before still showing Platinum now rather than Platinum Premier.

  • Rob says:

    23 Aug23 August 09:23

    If you earned Platinum with 75 nights, yes. If not, no.

    • Adrian says:

      23 Aug23 August 12:31

      Hi Rob, is this another reversal/misinformation from Marriott?

      You seem resigned that Plat Prem won’t happen for the ones that completed the challenge, but back in May you were asserting that we would and I’ve not seen an article from you since to say that’s changed.

      Extract from your article in May.

      What are the benefits of doing the Platinum Challenge now?
      On 1st August, the new merged Starwood and Marriott Rewards loyalty scheme begins in all but name. The new name won’t be with us until early 2019.
      If you are Marriott Platinum on 1st August, you will become Platinum Premier in the new scheme.

      • Adrian says:

        23 Aug23 August 12:35

        sorry, article was end of April

      • Rob says:

        23 Aug23 August 12:57

        Fair point, but Marriott has changed its mind on many things since then. I simply can’t get excited about this.

        I get identical benefits (except RC suite upgrades) and Marriott has no official soft landing option.

        At the end of the day, I bought Plat for £200 (4 Moxy runs) plus moved some other stays. I got this back last weekend in one go with free breakfast for 4 in Milan, every other benefit I get to March 2020 is an added bonus.

        I’m not going to demand equal treatment with 75 night Plats as long as I get virtually the same benefits.

  • Neil says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:21

    I have the same issue. I rang them up and they agreed I should be PPE and they would raise it and speakntontheir supervisor.. I am also missing 27k points prendata merge when I transferred from SPG to Marriott, saw the transfer show in my account but not my points balance (I track it due to prior issues)

  • Pangolin says:

    23 Aug23 August 12:10

    The problem is affecting many people right now.

    What Rob said isn’t correct. If you were Marriott Platinum beforehand (NOT due to linking status from SPG) then you should be Platinum Premier (not just people who had 75+ nights).
    Also, if you qualified as Marriott Lifetime Platinum – or SPG equivalent with 750+ nights – you should be Lifetime Plat Premier and also show Plat Premier status.

    Some MR people are now saying that SPG LTPs recognised as LT PPE won’t have their LT PPE status show until 2019 but that definitely shouldn’t apply to those who achieved LT PPE via Marriott.

    • Stu287 says:

      23 Aug23 August 22:49

      I completed the challenge in august, actually around a week ago but was one of the people that was upgraded to platinum before i completed the challenge. I just checked ams am now showing plat prem.

• Conor McCully says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:47

  Advice gratefully received – I would like to book a NYC Marriot or SPG for a stay April 2019. I’m Amex Plat with SPG/Marriot Gold. Keen to avail of the 4pm late check out and any other perks. Does anyone know the current best value hotels in NYC beside St Regis? Essex House is coming up at 60k for night for me ($600 per night) – presuming St Regis would be nicer.

  • Neil says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:23

    We loved the Marquis. Good with our children as well. Did Help they upgrades us to a huge suite but location off Times Square was great for us

  • Rob says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:53

    I would do St Regis purely for the experience, as I am. Next year it will be 80k (100k peak) whilst Essex House will be cheaper.

  • Nick_C says:

    23 Aug23 August 11:58

    I quite like the Marquis, especially if you have a high floor view. But a few things to be aware of. There always seems to be a long queue for reception. You get a hard sell to pay for an upgrade. In rooms with connecting doors, the soundproofing is terrible. Security is poor – anyone can come in off the street at any time of night and get access to the floors where the rooms are (unless they have improved things since 2013). I had someone banging on my door in the middle of the night and had to call security. Oh, and internet was chargeable, expensive, and not very reliable.

• Di says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:50

  When I combined my account it seemed my SPG points were convered at 1:1 ratio to marriot. Was this wrong?

  • Doug M says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:27

    My SPG points already went x3 so likely yes it’s right.

• Matt says:

  23 Aug23 August 10:14

  Marriott/SPG merger – still not seeing any benefits. When I call the agents they have no idea on any of the questions as they say it is all new to them. I am Platinum, and have stays in Courtyard and AC Hotels coming up – the advertising 6 months ago was that they would standardise benefits including breakfast for these properties, but that is still not the case, agents not sure if/when it will happen.
  System also not letting me book reward nights unless I have all the points already, which is another negative change.
  Only seeing downside to this merger at this stage, including more expensive redemptions at most properties going forward… Tell me where the positives are anyone??

  • Rob says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:50

    System lets me book ex-Marriott without points. You knew ex-SPG was not possible as per the rules. Similarly the breakfast rules were published months ago.

    • matt says:

      24 Aug24 August 10:23

      Hi Rob, it is actually an AC hotel I am trying to book in advance (this was always part of the Marriott side of the business) but system won’t let me do it. It will let me book the renaissance without points though… I will contact Marriott again…

  • Mark2 says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:53

    I re-booked ten nights in October and got 40,000 points back.

• Clive says:

  23 Aug23 August 10:35

  Is there any reason why we would choose not to merge SPG and Marriott accounts? I don’t understand why it is a manual choice and they haven’t merged everyone automatically…?

  • Rob says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:43

    Contractual / legal I think. No reason at all.

    • Pangolin says:

      23 Aug23 August 11:59

      Well I can think of one good reason: after merging the accounts you will see one combined figure for total nights this year. If you are aiming to achieve Platinum by SPG legacy stays (25) then it will be less clear how close you are to hitting your qualifying target (you’ll need to remember how many to subtract for Marriott stays).

    • Richard says:

      23 Aug23 August 23:45

      Took platinum Marriott and ‘downgraded’ to expected gold. Better to have kept separate for now

  • Crafty says:

    23 Aug23 August 13:27

    My Starwood app has deleted itself now (I have an Android phone), so I’m guessing we won’t be given a choice for very long…

• DaveL says:

  23 Aug23 August 10:52

  OT – Looking for a hotel at Heathrow for an early flight that can accommodate 2 Adults and 3 Children …with easy access to T5. Happy to take a taxi in the AM, and convenience is more important than cost… Lots of place OK for 2 Adults 2 kids…not so much for 3…ages between 5 and 11…

  • Rob says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:56

    Book for 4, sneak in the 3rd?

    • James Whitehead says:

      30 Aug30 August 19:14

      Very interested in this point.

      We’re looking at a hotel for 2 x adults and 2 x kids (6, 4 and 16 months) in Miami for Feb. Emailed a few hotels and they said it’d be fine to bring a baby as well – so we figured we’d get away with the youngest being so young, albeit not really a baby.

      Any hints on how long you can get away with this for, how likely are the hotel to ever kick up a fuss, etc?

      • Rob says:

        30 Aug30 August 22:30

        You need the cleaners not to notice because you might be breaking fire regulations and could be thrown out. The extra kid would need to share the adult bed and you’d need to hide the pyjamas the next day! You’d also need to be careful eating in the hotel.

  • Relaxo says:

    23 Aug23 August 11:01

    Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow has 2x double bed rooms. Easy tube access to T5. Just book for 2 adults & sneak the kids in – they wont care. Otherwise, not sure if there any options that contain more than 2 beds in a room.

  • Chris says:

    23 Aug23 August 14:06

    Thistle T5.
    POD to T5. Fun for the kids, and the large rooms will fit 3 children fine( I can say from recent experience)

    And I can also say from recent experience don’t touch Airportr with a barge pole…

    • Londoner says:

      23 Aug23 August 18:01

      What was your issue with Airportr?

      I have used them a few times and never had problems. The bags arrived without the strips the first time but thats all.

  • mr dee says:

    23 Aug23 August 19:19

    Check in with 2 kids and the other adult can come after

• pointsarb says:

  23 Aug23 August 11:00

  Marriott & SPG account merge question please for anybody that knows the answer: I’m SPG Gold and Marriott Plat. If I merge the accounts is there any risk I will become Marriott Gold instead of Plat upon the account merge?!

  Thanks

  • Pangolin says:

    23 Aug23 August 12:01

    It should be zero risk, but there is an issue at the moment that even people who had qualified for Marriott Plat (w/o linking) are seeing their status as Platinum in many cases (whereas they should have Platinum Premier). They’re seeing it will be about a week before these problems are ironed out.

    • Pangolin says:

      23 Aug23 August 12:02

      they’re seeing => they’re saying!!!

  • Adrian says:

    23 Aug23 August 12:12

    Hi, there is a risk, my wife was SPG Gold and Marriott Plat and is GOLD in the new combined programme. I’m sure this is to do with the AmEx card and gain/loss of status, but she is now gold nevertheless. I was happy to merge her accounts as we are leisure only travellers and essentially don’t use it anymore as I’m plat, I don’t believe you have anything to lose by waiting if at all unsure.

    • pointsarb says:

      23 Aug23 August 13:43

      Thanks all for the replies, I’ll wait a while in that case!

• Jim says:

  23 Aug23 August 11:44

  I’ve finally managed to get into my Marriott account and been hit with a double whammy for the NY September reservation I have, not only have I dropped down membership level and hence lose out on breakfast and lounge access (as expected) but the number of points required for the hotel has increased by 15k a night (not expected). Are Marriott not keeping existing reservations at the points required at the time of booking?

  • Tilly71 says:

    23 Aug23 August 11:47

    How long at the moment can anyone advise me how long are Amex taking to process applications for the Amex SPG card?

    • AndyGWP says:

      23 Aug23 August 12:44

      I applied for SPG Amex on 2nd August, got ‘decision pending’ and then received the card on 21st August (after a chaser on the 15th)

      • Tilly71 says:

        23 Aug23 August 13:19

        Thanks, this card is taking a long time against others!

    • Louise says:

      23 Aug23 August 14:26

      My husband applied Sunday night and got the card today!

      • FlyUpTop says:

        23 Aug23 August 14:40

        Excellent, I applied Mon so hoping by the weekend as I self referred from Plat and want to cancel plat before charges get applied.

      • FlyUpTop says:

        23 Aug23 August 16:25

        @Louise
        Did your hubby get instant approval on Sunday?

      • Louise says:

        23 Aug23 August 19:32

        No he didn’t get instant approval!

    • Liz says:

      23 Aug23 August 23:38

      Ours was 2 full wks and even then we had to phone up and ask.

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