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[2015] Marriott to acquire Starwood hotels

sjlola said:
Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the bonus to transfer Starpoints to airline miles is 25%; one of the best in the business which is why many are upset over the thought of losing the SPG Amex. Apparently, the SPG Amex is one of the most lucrative affiliations for American Express.
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Yes, I know, I was hoping there was and additional AA bonus promotion.....
 
duke said:
Yes, I know, I was hoping there was and additional AA bonus promotion.....
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Hi duke - the AA bonus program ended a few months ago. I converted a bunch of SPs to AA miles - glad I did...
 
DavidnRobin said:
I agree that this is no reason to panic, BUT I would recommend against putting any more skin in the game.
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Agreed, we were going to buy a WSJ (picked up an Explorer for the bonus points) but are holding off on pulling the trigger until this all sorts out...
 
DavidnRobin said:
Hi duke - the AA bonus program ended a few months ago. I converted a bunch of SPs to AA miles - glad I did...
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David, so did I, and now I'm not so happy since AA just greatly devalued their entire program. Just google American Airlines Devaluation if you want to see how bad, now they are like Delta & United. Didn't waste any time after their merger w/US Air
 
I used most of our miles to fly from SFO to STT via MIA next June - 331 days ahead to get Exit row going out (I have AA status thru work) with 1st class coming home (2-stop, but only 30Kpp)
 
Hilton has Visa and Amex options,why couldn't Marriot?

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk
 
AA also has Citi and Barclaycard as a result of the AA-US merger. It can be done.....
 
cubigbird said:
AA also has Citi and Barclaycard as a result of the AA-US merger. It can be done.....
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If what I Googled is correct, the Barclaycard converted to an Aviator card and they no longer offer any kind of US Airways or American Airlines credit card. So only one credit card company for the AAdvantage credit card, Citibank.

ETA: When Southwest took over AirTran, my wife's Barclay's AirTran credit card was sold to Chase.
 
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DavidnRobin said:
I used most of our miles to fly from SFO to STT via MIA next June - 331 days ahead to get Exit row going out (I have AA status thru work) with 1st class coming home (2-stop, but only 30Kpp)
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That seems like a great deal. I've just recently begun to use AA and haven't used the rewards yet. I have been using Delta for years and it seems their coach seats now begin at 35k and those seem rare.
 
okwiater said:
"Buy where you want to go" holds true now more than ever. As a recent 5* Elite owner, I will be sad if some of the perks go away -- or become irrelevant due to devaluation -- but even in the worst case scenario I will be more than happy to use and rent the properties I own.
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All your Five-Star & SVO benefits, will go way including:
Lifetime SPG Platinum
Ability to transfer points to SPG
SPG points to airline miles conversions
Easier access to Harborside at Atlantis
Five-Star VIP Onsite Benefits
 
dioxide45 said:
If what I Googled is correct, the Barclaycard converted to an Aviator card and they no longer offer any kind of US Airways or American Airlines credit card. So only one credit card company for the AAdvantage credit card, Citibank.

ETA: When Southwest took over AirTran, my wife's Barclay's AirTran credit card was sold to Chase.
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The Red Aviator card is Barclay's equivalent of Citi Advantage card. Both cards have exactly the same AA benefits.
 
gkbiiii said:
All your Five-Star & SVO benefits, will go way including:
Lifetime SPG Platinum
Ability to transfer points to SPG
SPG points to airline miles conversions
Easier access to Harborside at Atlantis
Five-Star VIP Onsite Benefits
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Based on what?
 
Thats what it looked like to me.......
 
gkbiiii said:
All your Five-Star & SVO benefits, will go way including:
Lifetime SPG Platinum
Ability to transfer points to SPG
SPG points to airline miles conversions
Easier access to Harborside at Atlantis
Five-Star VIP Onsite Benefits
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Easier access to Harborside Atlantis? Not sure what you mean.:doh:

IMHO, lifetime plat will go away, I seriously doubt it will be replaced by Marriott's Plat which is worse than SPG.
 
The sad thing is that some of the items that were mentioned will happen just because of the end of SPG. I am certainly not happy about it.

Has anyone contacted corporate sales to ask about what they know? I am thinking about doing it.
 
moto x said:
The sad thing is that some of the items that were mentioned will happen just because of the end of SPG. I am certainly not happy about it.

Has anyone contacted corporate sales to ask about what they know? I am thinking about doing it.
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I am thinking that they don't even know yet. It would have been confusing enough with just the sale of VSE to ILG, now add in the sale of HOT to MAR and you have another entire layer of confusion. No one will know really until the changes are announced. They rarely tell low level sales staff much until they are ready to actually make the changes.
 
dioxide45 said:
I am thinking that they don't even know yet. It would have been confusing enough with just the sale of VSE to ILG, now add in the sale of HOT to MAR and you have another entire layer of confusion. No one will know really until the changes are announced. They rarely tell low level sales staff much until they are ready to actually make the changes.
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I concur with dioxide45. Also I'm quite optimistic that SPG members won't be screwed contrary to the general opinion. As discussed in the Marriott forum, the relationships amongst the various entities (ILG, VSE, HOT, MAR) are contractual in nature and will not change much after the sale.
 
Sicnarf said:
I concur with dioxide45. Also I'm quite optimistic that SPG members won't be screwed contrary to the general opinion. As discussed in the Marriott forum, the relationships amongst the various entities (ILG, VSE, HOT, MAR) are contractual in nature and will not change much after the sale.
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I am not sure how many contracts there really are. More likely agreements. VSE is still part of HOT. Do they really have a contract between each other within the same company? Maybe, maybe not. However, if HOT wants to still sell VSE to ILG, they will work something out. Selling VSE is required in order for MAR to acquire HOT. Obviously a lot can happen between now and when these deals close. so there is still a lot of negotiating left. ILG is going to want to make sure the owners they acquire from HOT in the deal to buy VSE are protected and still receive what they have come to expect. So they are are going to work for that. HOT knows that they need to give ILG what they want in the deal or the HOT/MAR deal falls through and someone has to pony up a lot of money to break the deal.
 
dioxide45 said:
I am not sure how many contracts there really are. More likely agreements. VSE is still part of HOT. Do they really have a contract between each other within the same company? Maybe, maybe not. However, if HOT wants to still sell VSE to ILG, they will work something out. Selling VSE is required in order for MAR to acquire HOT. Obviously a lot can happen between now and when these deals close. so there is still a lot of negotiating left. ILG is going to want to make sure the owners they acquire from HOT in the deal to buy VSE are protected and still receive what they have come to expect. So they are are going to work for that. HOT knows that they need to give ILG what they want in the deal or the HOT/MAR deal falls through and someone has to pony up a lot of money to break the deal.
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I am actually an optimist, but I have a bad feeling about this one. Like it has been mentioned before, the priority is to make money for stock owners not keep TS owners happy with benefits that were promised under a previous regime. However, I recognize this is a complex issue that is intertwined...

In you opinion, any chance the ILG deal would fall through and MVC would buy SVN?
 
moto x said:
In you opinion, any chance the ILG deal would fall through and MVC would buy SVN?
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Anything is possible, but I don't see this one happening. I think it would have been a good route to go for MVW, but they aren't in the acquisition mode, where ILG certainly was given their recent Hyatt acquisition.

I think there is a better chance that the HOT/MAR deal falls through. Anything can happen though. Of course, if the ILG/VSE deal doesn't go through then the MAR/HOT deal is also over. Of course, it is always possible that MVC could be acquired by ILG. I don't see that happening since MVC really isn't for sale. Companies aren't bought, they are sold. Can't buy something if it isn't for sale, unless you can talk the current owner in to selling.
 
DavidnRobin said:
I didn't say Troll - I said trolling...
meaning putting out a post like that... what was the purpose?
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You were correct in saying "trolling" -- the post was spurious antagonization based on nothing.

Yes, it is certainly possible for lifetime SPG Platinum and Starpoints transfers to go away, but those risks were created during the VSE spinoff, not the Marriott acquisition. From a legal & contractual perspective, Marriott's acquisition changes absolutely nothing since they are buying Starwood in its entirety including the Westin & Sheraton brands, to which SVO/VSE/ILG has a long-term exclusive license which includes the ability to provide Elite status and points.

The only real risk in my mind is points devaluation, which is a problem for all SPG members not just SVO owners. However, notwithstanding Marriott's "responsibility to shareholders," if one of the stated reasons for acquiring Starwood was the value of the SPG program, then it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to simply transform it into Marriott Rewards and obliterate its inherent value. Will we see changes? Yes, almost certainly. But while I don't see Marriott's acquisition of Starwood as a "net positive," I also don't think reality is going to look anything like the pessimistic doom and gloom scenarios being discussed.
 
dioxide45 said:
Selling VSE is required in order for MAR to acquire HOT.
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Was there something in MAR's statements that the purchase of HOT was dependent on HOT first getting rid of VSE?

I think MAR can still buy HOT and then spin off VSE (isn't SVO a bunch of separate legal companies, all effectively wholly owned subsidiaries of HOT?), and ILG or someone else, or no-one, could buy out VSE. Or they could just keep VSE.

Who knows... :shrug:

Still way too many moving parts and scenarios -- we have wait and see what actually happens before panic sets in.
 
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