Starwood-Marriott officially combine, and here's how you can benefit!

The long-drawn-out story of Marriott's acquisition of Starwood has finally been given the go-ahead. And so, today - 23 September 2016 - marks the integration of loyalty programs of the two hotel chains. Here's what you need to know about the combination, and how it affects you.

The back-story

There's a lot, but here's a snapshot of what led to today:

• In November 2016, Marriott announced it was going to acquire Starwood.
• Then Anbang (a Chinese insurance group) came into the picture. 
• Marriott and Anbang went through a bidding war.
• Anbang finally pulled out of the race, leaving Marriott to acquire Starwood.
• Marriott and Starwood shareholders finally approved the merger in April 2016.

Soon after, Marriott made some changes to its Marriott Rewards (MR) program, to retain loyalty and, to a large extent, also try and emulate SPG.

And today, the two programs have become inter-operable. What does that mean? Read on...

The loyalty programs

Marriott already operates two different programs - one each for the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton sub-chains. The addition of SPG now makes it three.

The new Marriott has nearly 5,700 properties in over 100 countries, with more than 1.1 million hotel rooms across 30 different brands (Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Starwood brands combined).

MR and RC programs have four levels each: Base, Silver, Gold and Platinum. SPG has four levels too: Preferred Guest, Preferred Guest Plus, Gold and Platinum (with two variants).

As of now, the MR and SPG programs won't fully integrate until late 2017 or early 2018. Until then, they will operate as separate programs. That means that as of now, there's a set of things you can do, and things you can't, between the two programs.

First, here's how you can benefit.

Match your status between Marriott Rewards and SPG

Right now, there are two big things that are available to members of the two programs. Those also bring in some significant arbitrage opportunities. 

First, you can status-match between MR and SPG. That means, you'll earn equivalent status in one program, based on your status with the other. Here are the tier matches:

• SPG Preferred Plus - MR Silver, and vice versa
• SPG Gold - MR Gold, and vice versa
• SPG Platinum (base type, not premium) - MR Platinum, and vice versa.

Before you start matching status, you need to link your accounts.

SPG Gold requires 10 stays / 25 nights, and Platinum needs 25 stays / 50 nights. Whereas MR Gold usually requires 50 nights and Platinum, 75 nights. That makes the status equivalence very generous for SPG members at either of these two levels. Particularly so since MR Gold offers lounge access and complimentary breakfast - something that SPG Gold doesn't. And to me, this is the biggest positive of MR Gold. 

You can also use this promotion to get SPG Gold after just one stay in Asia-Pacific, when you pay with select MasterCard credit cards. That SPG Gold can help you get MR Gold, if that's what interests you.

You can head here to match your accounts. Your status should be matched immediately.

JW Marriott Sahar Airport, Mumbai

Transfer points between MR and SPG programs

You can freely transfer points between the MR and SPG programs, in either direction, and as often as you want. The applicable transfer rate is 1 SPG point for 3 MR points. [We value MR points at Rs 0.56 and SPG points at Rs 1.43 apiece, a 1:2.55 ratio. So a 1:3 official exchange rate isn't really bad.] 

You can transfer just what you need, and not necessarily all of your points. For instance, I have SPG points for an award night coming up, but only enough for a base category room. However, I can now convert the necessary MR points to give me enough SPG points, to book a suite award instead. 

Convert points to airline miles

As an add-on to the above, both MR and SPG have the ability to convert points into airline miles. SPG's conversion is generally considered superior, with most transfers on a 1:1 ratio, and to top it, a 25% bonus you get for every 20,000 SPG points converted to airline miles. So you can get a better deal by first converting your MR points into Starpoints, and then converting Starpoints into airline miles, rather than directly from MR points to airline miles. 

For instance, 60,000 MR points will get you 9,000 JP miles. Or 60,000 MR points can convert to 20,000 SPG points, which in turn you can convert into 25,000 JP miles (1:1 plus a 25% bonus). That makes for amazing value - if the airline miles are worth more to you than hotel points. [FWIW, I value JP miles at Rs 0.72 each, so on a pure numbers basis, I believe it doesn't make sense to convert either MR or SPG points into JP miles, but as always, YMMV.]

St Regis Mumbai

Buying points...

You can buy up to 30,000 SPG points a year, at $35 per 1,000 points. And up to 50,000 MR points a year, at $12.50 per 1,000 points. Those are the rates absent any promotions. On a equivalent basis, that makes buying SPG points marginally cheaper by about 7%, which you can then transfer to MR, if that's what you're after.

Another thing, is that both SPG and MR limit how many points you can buy in a year. Which means you can max out your purchases with both programs, and transfer between the two, to have enough points for your award stay. In effect, this means you're actually "buying" more than the permitted limit, but I didn't see a restriction on this (though I'm happy to be corrected).

What you cannot do...yet

While the ability to status match and transfer points instantly between the two programs is fantastic, there's a lot you cannot do, at least as of now. For instance, you cannot

• obtain matching elite night credits between programs
• book and view bookings with Starwood, Marriott and Ritz-Carlton on the same app
• transact with one program with another program's app
• earn SPG points on Marriott / Ritz-Carlton stays or vice versa (though you can earn and then transfer)
• match lifetime status between programs
• ...and a lot more.

Bottom line

This is just a start, and clearly there's a lot more to come. In particular, I'd like to see a lot more integration of the programs, culminating in one single program. That said, I did expect some level of consistency and equivalence between the two programs, but what Marriott has done (as the new owner) is really creditable. I think as of now, they've done their best not to annoy SPG loyalists, while not short-changing their own elites and members. And that can be a really difficult walk. Full marks to Marriott!