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Marriott Bonvoy officially launches on 13th February

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It’s official – the new name for the combined Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest is, as we revealed a few weeks ago, Marriott Bonvoy.

The programme will launch on 13th February although it will clearly take a while to update all of the marketing material, credit cards and the like.

Here is the new logo which we previewed a few days ago.  Marriott calls it “simple, bold and modern”.

Marriott Bonvoy logo

Marriott Bonvoy will launch with over 120 million members.  This is a huge number (Avios has 8 million members for comparison), equivalent to the population of Japan or Mexico.

Apparently there will be a “multi-million-dollar global media campaign” starting in late February to accompany the launch, so I need to get Anika onto Marriott’s advertising department ASAP 🙂

Marriott said:

“Marriott Bonvoy marks an evolution in travel because it represents more than a loyalty programme.  Marriott Bonvoy is a travel programme designed to bring to life our extraordinary portfolio of global brands in 129 countries and territories, while also providing endless inspiration for members to keep traveling and pursuing their passions.”

In practical terms, little will change.  The ‘big bang’ was in August 2018, when Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest were aligned in terms of features and benefits and the new terms and conditions launched.  The launch of Marriott Bonvoy is just slipping a new skin over the existing Marriott website.

The one change that has been announced is the renaming of two membership tiers.

  • Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite will replace Platinum Premier Elite for members who exceed 75 nights
  • Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite will replace Platinum Premier Elite with Ambassador.  This is for members who spend over 100 nights per year and spend over $20,000, who receive a dedicated ambassador to oversee their bookings.

13th February will be the day when the Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Starwood Preferred Guest brands finally disappear.  You will still see the broader Starwood name around – Starwood Capital Group still exists and is still developing hotel projects.  It recently sold Principal Hotels in the UK to IHG and owns a 30% stake in Yotel.

I think this quote from a Flyertalk poster summed it up well:

“I like the video – it’s very Starwood, with no Utah-based Tumi-tugging Accenture consultants in poor fitting suits sitting in a lounge drinking Bud Light out of plastic cups in sight.”

You can find out more about Marriott Bonvoy on the Marriott website here.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

Category

Marriott Bonvoy

Comments (70)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Third Passport says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:11

    Not a big fan of the name but I like the video! I wonder what the cards will look like.

  • N says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:12

    Any news on the SPG Amex? Will it hang around? Rebranded?

    • Rob says:
      16 Jan16 January 12:16

      No idea. If it is staying it will be rebranded clearly. Or perhaps it gets dropped and the Creation Marriott Mastercard brought back?

      • Grant says:
        16 Jan16 January 13:03

        OT but I added an the Creation IHG Mastercard to Curve today and it shows up in the app as the Marriott branded card. Amusing.

        • Craig says:
          16 Jan16 January 13:46

          You can change it to the IHG one in the app.

        • Alan says:
          16 Jan16 January 15:21

          Yeah has always done that due to BINs. I sent them the correct artwork a year or so ago and (if you’re not in the beta) you should be able to switch to it.

    • George K says:
      16 Jan16 January 21:28

      Would you hold on to the SPG Amex or cancel it at this stage?

  • RakishDriver says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:17

    bon voyage SPG!
    I just wish we could have the future of the SPG Amex clarified – one last churn would be nice.
    Speaking of which, would be good to hear opinions on referrals from SPG amex; I’ll max out the Plat Amex referrals soon and wondering if the SPG 9000 referral points is really worth it and should instead consider other cards?

  • Eddie says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:37

    Rob, have you written an article on Marriott travel packages since the schemes were merged? Did it make much difference to their appeal?

    • Rob says:
      16 Jan16 January 12:53

      They are poor value now, not worth focusing on UNLESS you happen to have a specific need for a 7-night hotel booking and some airline miles. Nowhere near being the ‘no-brainer’ it used to be, under which you were effectively getting 1:1 into airline miles once you factored in the cost of the hotel.

  • Alex says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:41

    What a terrible name, yet another meaningless product of innumerous committees and approvals it went through

    • M says:
      16 Jan16 January 14:36

      Agree, awful name.

    • Nick says:
      16 Jan16 January 17:09

      Yes, and probably some pointless branding company, totally clueless about the hotel industry, and who’s employees have never stayed in a group property, attempting, clearly badly, to be ‘trendy’! 🙂

      IMHO, it’s a joke name! 🙂

  • Kazim says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:52

    Any reason why the 3rd article appears much later in the day compared to the other 2? Its been happening everyday this week

    • TGLoyalty says:
      16 Jan16 January 15:17

      because there was an extra article yesterday it’s usually just 2 but i guess this is more breaking new aswell

      • Rob says:
        16 Jan16 January 16:23

        Yes – I thought it was worth getting this up ASAP. The email system can only handle 3 per day, though, so there will be just two new articles tomorrow morning and the Bonvoy piece will be emailed then.

  • Mike says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:59

    Another lame program name, the only way they could have made it worse is if they had come up with new hipster tier level names like Hyatt’s “Discoverist” “Explodist” and “Gerbilist” …

    Rather than wasting time and money on rebranding it would be nice if Marriott could sort out their ongoing IT issues with the integration of the two programs…

  • will says:
    16 Jan16 January 13:57

    I may have missed it but I think I read that the Cat 8 launch date for “Bonvoy”. It was delayed I think I’d right in saying.

    • will says:
      16 Jan16 January 13:59

      That’ll teach me to take a phone call in the middle of trying to write something comprehensible.

      Is that Cat 8 launch date delayed? If so any news on when it will be brought in?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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