KEY LINK: As always, you can compare current hotel card welcome offers here – I may receive a commission if you’re approved for a card through that link
If you’re in the miles and points earning hobby, or someone who’s keen with travel news, you’d know that It’s been raining Marriott and SPG news. That’s what happened these past few days. PwaC’s, Dan Miller, wrote this entry after the announcement where he pointed out the 3 Worst Devaluations from the Marriott/SPG Program Changes.
- Reduced earning on the SPG cards
- Introduction of “peak” pricing at hotels
- People who get status from anything but LOTS of stays
Click here for details on Dan’s entry.
Part of the big news was the announcement of the new Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card, and the news about refreshing the Starwood Preferred Guest Consumer and Business Cards. Amex confirmed with PWaC that SPG Amex Consumer (personal) Card will, in fact, continue to be issued after August 1, along with the business Card. It will not be discontinued. The news came alongside with rolling out a new Marriott Premier Plus Card, along side with unified benefits across Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) for its members in August 2018. Here’s what you need to know about these SPG and Marriott credit cards.
Image courtesy of Amex SPG
Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card
- Launching in August 2018
- Welcome bonus – TBD
- Annual fee of $450
- Complimentary Gold Elite Status
- No-fee additional Card
- Statement credit of up to $300 for purchases on the Card at participating hotels worldwide
Earnings potential with this card
-
For each dollar of eligible purchases charged to your Card, you can earn:
- 6X points at participating SPG and Marriott Properties
- 3X points when used for dining and airfare
- 2X points on other eligible purchases
Additional benefits
- Up to $300 in statement credits each Card renewal year for purchases at participating SPG and Marriott Rewards hotels
- Annual Night Award (redemption level at or under 50,000 points) every year after your Card account anniversary*
- Automatic Gold Elite Status and the ability to earn Platinum Elite Status after spending $75,000 on the Card in a calendar year
- $100 Global Entry or $85 TSA Precheck fee credit
- Priority Pass Select membership giving you access to over 1,000 airport lounges in the Priority Pass network
- Complimentary Boingo Wi-Fi
- No foreign transaction fees
Image courtesy of Amex SPG
Starwood Preferred Guest Consumer Credit Card
- Annual fee of $95
- Automatic Silver Elite Status
- Ability to earn Gold Elite Status after spending $30,000 in a calendar year
- Note: effective January 1, 2019, Card Members will earn Gold Elite Status after spending $35,000 on the Card in a calendar year.
Earnings potential
- 6X points at participating SPG and Marriott Properties
- 2X points on other eligible purchases
Additional benefits
- Annual night award on your card account’s anniversary
- Redeemable at properties that are 35,000 points or under
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
What’s not good
Currently the 2 SPG cards earn 1 Starwood point per dollar spent, with very few bonus categories. Because of the ability to transfer 1 SPG point to 3 Marriott points, you’ve essentialy been able to get 3 Marriott points for $1 spent. But now the new and existing SPG cards will only earn TWO Marriott points for every dollar spent..
Image courtesy of Amex SPG
Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card
- Annual fee of $95
- Automatic Silver Elite Status
- Ability to earn Gold Elite Status after spending $30,000 in a calendar year
- Note: effective January 1, 2019, Card Members will earn Gold Elite Status after spending $35,000 on the Card in a calendar year.
Earnings potential
- 4X points on everyday business purchases at
- U.S. restaurants,
- U.S. gas stations,
- wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
- U.S. shipping purchases
- 6X points at participating SPG and Marriott Rewards Properties
- 2X points on other eligible purchases
Additional benefits
- Annual night award on your card account’s anniversary
- Redeemable at properties that are 35,000 points or under
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
What’s not good
- Sheraton lounge access perk with the business card goes away
- 2x per dollar earning rate has been lowered
For an at-a-glance look of these Amex cards, click here.
Image courtesy of Marriott
Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card
This is a new premium rewards card with Chase
- Sign-up bonus – 100,000 points for new card members
- Annual fee is $95 (the non-Premier Plus version is $10 less = $85)
- Earn 6x points for Marriott hotel spend (the non-Premier Plus version earns 5x)
- 2x for all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees
Premier Plus Benefits
- Anniversary free night award (any property up to 35,000 points in value vs. up to 25,000 points value or Cat 1-5 with the personal premier version)
- Guaranteed Silver Elite, and to get Gold Elite status after spending $35,000 on purchases each account year
- In 2019, receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year
- Beginning in August 2018, receive free in-room, premium Internet access during your stay at a participating Marriott/SPG property
The SPG and Marriott Mashup
All three of the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Cards from American Express are linked to Marriott’s award-winning guest-loyalty programs, Marriott Rewards®, which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®, and Starwood Preferred Guest®, providing Card Members with the choice to redeem at a portfolio of nearly 6,500 participating hotels across 29 brands around the globe.
Existing Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Card Members and consumers who apply for the Starwood Preferred Guest® consumer and business Credit Cards from American Express will automatically receive the refreshed benefits launching August 2018.
Decisions, decisions
To those with the Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card, the personal card (the one with $85 annual fee, and anniversary night up 25K value using Cat 1-5). I think of the new Premium Plus card as the card on steroids. Can we get both the Premier Plus and regular premier? DoC followed up with Chase’s website. “Cardmembers can have either the Marriott Rewards Premier credit card or the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card. We will be offering points to upgrade to the new Marriott Rewards® Registered Trademark Premier Plus card. Check back on May 3rd.” Hmmmm, looks like we won’t be able to get both cards. This reminded me of the changes that took place with Chase last year where you could only get one Sapphire card. I’m sure we’ll hear more over the next few weeks.
A big pain point shared by many is with the new and existing SPG cards will only earn TWO Marriott points for every dollar spent. You were able to earn 3 Marriott points with $1 spent.
How about you? What struck you the most with these new offers and refreshed benefits? Will you be upgrading or getting one or more of these cards soon?
HT (Doctor of Credit)
KEY LINK: As always, you can compare current hotel card welcome offers here – I may receive a commission if you’re approved for a card through that link
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
“Plus, with all other purchases now getting 2x per dollar vs 1x per dollar with the current card, makes it quite attractive. ”
1x points earned on the old SPG card were worth 3x Marriott points; now it’s only 2 points. This is a devaluation, not an improvement.
Who is writing this??? 2 MR points an improvement over 1 SPG point? #ignoreJasonFrancisco…
I updated the entry and have made the corrections. Thanks for pointing it out.
My apologies…I will correct the entry.
Does the 1 elite night per $3000 spending disappear with the “upgraded” card?
ad…looks like it’s not a perk with the new card.
The SPG business seems like a no brainer over the lower fee personal card with the extra bonus points and Amex’s restriction on the amount of credit cards you can have. I’m curious what will become of the Ritz card.
It’s not surprising that Marriott has managed to make every card less valuable. Taking that kind of value from your customers requires hard work and thought, and Marriott works hard at that kind of stuff. No lounge access at Sheratons with the SPG business card, no elite night earning with the Marriott card, worse earning through general SPG spending, and heaps of negative changes not directly connected to credit cards in the new program. Why are no bloggers calling out Marriott for making the new program so awful?
Christian, good point. PWaC wrote this post the other day about 3 Worst Devaluations with this Marriott/SPG program changes. I will make mention of that on the entry and include the link https://www.pointswithacrew.com/3-worst-devaluations-changes-new-marriott-spg-loyalty-program/
As far as the SPG lounge access for those with the biz card, that is a pain point as well. It wasn’t that long ago when I used an SPG lounge due to my biz card benefit, and now, just like that, the perk is taken away.
I will be cancelling my Starwood Business AX card, held for many years and spending in excess of $100,000 per year, after the earnings change to 2 Marriott points per $ spent – this reduced benefit (yes I see that it matches up with what Marriott cards will/do earn) is a HUGE devaluation (3 becomes 2!). There are other cards, not Marriott/Starwood that will give me better value.
Charles….I can totally understand how you feel with the changes considering your spend of over $100K. I initially misunderstood the devaluation where it will now be 2 Marriott pts per $ spent, a huge deval indeed.
I have a business platinum amex card – would you recommend I apply for a personal SPG card – question for Canadians
The card has gotten a lot of bad press since the announcement on Monday, it brought a lot of disappointment from existing and potential future cardholders.. I checked on Amex SPG for Canadians https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/credit-cards/starwood-credit-card/ statement credits is what they’re offering, and we’ve seen this change as well in the US.
So it seems that the primary decision for current Marriott Reward credit card holders is to keep your current card with the $85 annual fee or upgrade to the $95 version. The Premier version allows for 2x points on all non Marriott purchases but we lose the 1 elite night credit per $3000 spend?
Duane, you’re right…the 1 night spent for every $3000 will not be on the new card.
I signed up for the Marriott Business card last year to get their promo points. Chase just upgraded me to the Premier Plus business card with an annual fee of $95. No points bump. Should I cancel this and get the Amex SPG card instead? I can go with personal or business card. Only interested in the points bump at the end of the day… I already tried to apply for the Amex SPG card and they declined me because I had the Chase Premier Plus. So it’s one or the other…any advice?
Janine – yes, the Marriott cards have requirements for who is eligible based on what cards you already have – see here for the rules
Whether you get a new card or not depends on a lot of factors like how much you’re using the benefits of your existing card. If you do decide to get a new card, thanks in advance if you use our links when you apply for a new card – https://www.pointswithacrew.com/go/cc/hotel