Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott Rewards & SPG launched their first combined MegaBonus on September 26 that is valid for stays through January 31, 2019. The registration for this offer, however, closes on January 7. Marriott Rewards members can earn 2,000 bonus points for stays of two nights or longer and an additional bonus of 1,000 bonus points per […]
Category: Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)
Marriott Rewards & SPG Choice Benefit Selection Under “Maintenance”
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) launched Choice Benefit-award first to those that reached 50 nights and later introduced second option at 75 nights. Members could choose from variety of gifts from Suite Night Awards (SNA) to free night certificates. Marriott Rewards introduced this to the combined program this year and changed the gift options that members […]
Fabulous Fridays: Hotels Going Beyond The Brand Requirement Case Four Points Bangkok Sukhumvit 15
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
This week the Fabulous Fridays deals with hotels that go above and beyond what is required by the brand when it comes to the elite treatment. Fried of mine was staying at the Four Points hotel in Bangkok just before the New Years and I was glad to learn that they had brought back the […]
Marriott Starwood Database Hack Update
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott made an announcement back in late November that Starwood database had been accessed without an authorization by a third party since 2014 and possibly half a billion guest were records stolen. Now, Marriott has provided an update about this incident. As we thought to be the case at the time, there aren’t half a […]
Marriott Bonvoy Logo Unveiled
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott Worldwide has been granted the trademark for the Bonvoy figurative logo below that I assume that we should soon start seeing instead of Marriott Rewards/SPG/Ritz-Carlton Rewards. Marriott briefly had their production web page door left open with the Bonvoy name featured and they had applied for the regular trademark earlier for this name. You […]
Remember To Choose Your Marriott Rewards Or SPG Choice Benefit When Reaching 50 Or 75 Nights
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) launched Choice benefit awards years ago to get members to stay minimum of 50 nights yearly and subsequently introduced second award for those staying 75 nights. The award selection has changed number of times. Marriott Rewards implemented this program to their members this year. They are not, however, emailing members about […]
Reader Question: SPG Legacy Loyalty Qualification Criteria Not Honored By Marriott If Accounts Merged?
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us an email about yet another maddening situation with Marriott Rewards & SPG. Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover Reader Questions & Comments here several times a week. You can access Marriott’s page for […]
Whine Wednesday: Luxury Collection Stay Credit Shot Into Pieces After Overnight Transition To Marriott’s MARSHA System
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Our weekly Whine Wednesday series is about a stay credit from The Athenee Luxury Collection Hotel in Bangkok where I stayed for four nights last week and which transitioned to Marriott’s MARSHA system during my second night there. MARSHA stands for Marriott Automated Reservation System for Hotel Accommodations (reservation system) and slowly all new hotels […]
Marriott Rewards & SPG Program Merger Four Months Later
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott Rewards & Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) started their very painful IT and program merger on August 18, 2018, although both (and Ritz-Carlton Rewards) got to keep their names for now (Bonvoy is coming soon – read more here). SPG accounts were moved to the Marriott Rewards platform and the Starwood reservation system has been […]
Condescending Year-End Email From Marriott Rewards
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott Rewards has been sending out emails with a subject “A Note About our Transition into One Program” with very arrogant tone. The integration presented challenges not to “some” but to Marriott Rewards (still continue) that were woefully ill-prepared for the challenge with their outsourced IT team from Accenture. Complete amateur hour compared to any […]
China Behind The Marriott Hack?
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
New York Times was reporting earlier this week that methods behind the Marriott hack were same as used by the Chinese government hackers that penetrated number of US institutions earlier this decade. The information gathered were likely then used mainly for espionage purposes rather than trying to use the compromised credit cards or points. Here’s […]
LAST CALL: $500 Hotel Gift Card Giveaway (Enter By 11:59PM EST Friday December 14)
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
On Monday, we launched the last giveaway of 2018! This time the winner will receive $500 gift card for Accor, Hilton, IHG or Marriott/SPG. The giveaway is about to end and you must enter by 11:59PM EST on Friday (December 14, 2018) and we will announce the winner on Sunday. You can access the giveaway here. […]
Sheraton Prague Exits Marriott System On January 1, 2019
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Sheraton Prague Charles Square will exit Marriott system effective January 1, 2019. The last date that you can currently book the hotel on Marriott website is for December 31. The hotel was sold earlier this year for 42.5 million euros to a Norwegian investor that must have new plans for the property. You can access […]
Check Your Marriott Rewards & SPG Accounts For 29 Ways Sweepstakes Deposits
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott Rewards had a 29 Ways sweepstakes to celebrate the latest MegaBonus promotion and the combined 29 brands that are loyalty program participating. The sweepstakes itself had some issues and was delayed by a week. Marriott Rewards also changed the number on “instant wins” each member could have during the period to daily (first it […]
Don’t Expect Marriott To Pay For Your Compromised Passport Replacement
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Many websites and reputable news organizations have over the past few days incorrectly reported that Marriott would pay for passport replacements for those consumers that had theirs compromised during the data hack that continued for four years. Marriott still hasn’t even emailed to all members that had their info compromised and is unable to divulge […]
Giveaway: $500 Hotel Gift Card (Enter By 11:59PM EST Friday December 14)
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
It is time for our last giveaway of 2018! This time the winner will receive $500 gift card for Accor, Hilton, IHG or Marriott/SPG. The giveaway is now open and you must enter by 11:59PM EST on Friday (November 16, 2018) and we will announce the winner on Sunday. You can access the giveaway here. RED […]
Top Hotel Promotions December 2018
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Here’s look at the top 5 most lucrative hotel promotions that you can take advantage of this month. Remember that it really pays to take advantage of bonus and promotional offers from hotel loyalty programs. You can supercharge your point earnings! 1. Hilton Honors Double/Triple Points + Double Points In Asia-Pacific (+ Buy Points Bonus […]
Marriott Legacy SPG Stay Posting Issue Resolved Or Not?
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Sebastian yesterday wrote (access here) about his prompt stay posting experience with two Starwood legacy brands in Kuala Lumpur after many complaints from out readers and our personal experiences with long delays and non-postings. He thought that the issue with stay postings must have been resolved that I believe is incorrect. Seems that these two […]
UPDATE: Marriott Rewards & SPG Gold And Platinum Challenge 2018
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott Rewards and SPG both had separate challenges on their respective programs that were discontinued earlier this summer in anticipation of the program merger that took place on August 18, 2018. There are no status matches offered at the moment. We first wrote about the newly launched Marriott Rewards and SPG Gold challenges on September […]
Positive Update Concerning The Posting Of Legacy Starwood Brand Stays To SPG/Marriott Rewards Accounts
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Last month I wrote about the massive amount of complaints we receive about stays completed at SPG Legacy brands not posting to the account either for weeks or they never at all. Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too as we’ll try to […]