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This week, Marriott announced that Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest are merging into one program beginning August 2018. With that change comes a new award chart and the possibility of some great deals.

What We Know

At this point, there are still a number of things we don’t know about the new program. However, one thing we do know for sure is what the new award chart will look like.

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Marriott will be transferring SPG points into the new program at a 1:3 ratio (1 SPG starpoint = 3 Marriott points). Currently, the highest category on the SPG Free Night chart is a category 7. At most, those properties will cost 35,000 points per night or 105,000 Marriott points.

The Ritz-Carlton award chart goes up to a reward tier 5 which can be booked for 70,000 reward points.

Starting in August, the new reward chart will take effect and category 7 will be the highest until 2019. Booking a category 7 property between August 2018 and January 2019, will cost 60,000 points.

What We Don’t Know Yet

As I’ve already mentioned, there are a number of things we still don’t know about the new rewards program. When you look at the information above, it seems to indicate that there might be a booking sweet spot for the highest category SPG and Ritz properties.

With the new program, there is a possibility that you could save up to 10,000 points on top tier Ritz properties and up to 45,000 on top category SPG properties.

We don’t know which properties will end up in the different categories. It’s also unclear exactly how the merge will happen. I would spend some time looking over the current Ritz-Carlton and SPG category lists to see if there are any properties you might be interested in booking.

a pool with umbrellas and chairs by a beach

Properties to Watch

Here is just a sample of great properties to keep an eye on:

  • St. Regis Princeville (see photo above)
  • St. Regis New York
  • St. Regis Deer Valley
  • Santa Marina, A Luxury Collection Resort, Mykonos
  • Hotel de Berri, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris
  • G-Rough, Rome, a Member of Design Hotels
  • W Bali – Seminyak
  • The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
  • The Miami Beach EDITION
  • The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
  • The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
  • The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong
  • The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai

Are there any properties on this list that you’ve been dreaming of visiting? Where would you go with your saved points? Share in the comments!


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