Back in August, Marriott announced the end of Starwood Preferred Guest existence as its own loyalty program. Today, Marriott made it even more official and rebranded its own self into a whole new name… “BONVoY”
Throughout the year, the integration and information of this merger (to put it lightly) felt like the polar vortex that swept across the East Coast weeks ago.
It felt cold…. windy… and complicated
I won’t dive into too much details, but one of the advantages (& disadvantage for some) of this merger is the combination of two big loyalty programs: Marriott Rewards & Starwood Preferred Guest
As many of you know, Miki & Paul spent most of their youthful years being long distance due to her weekly international travels. Hence, they would frequently meet in different cities around North America on the weekends to spend limited time together.
Contrary to what many people think, it’s not as glamorous as it sounds…
1) Even if you get upgraded, First Class domestic flights usually looks like this
2) It takes A LOT of money, lady luck (for the room upgrades) and most importantly TIME to rack up lifetime statuses for hotel programs
3) On a weekly basis, we are forced to spend time in the smallest planes… including seaplanes
Though the view up north is #wanderlust love.
4) And lastly even if they are home, Paul would have to dress up in the finest attire to pick her up at the airport…
Ok I embellished 😉
But yeah truth be told, planes, airports, and especially Marriott/SPG hotels were seriously their 2nd home.
Thankfully, all the hard work in living at Marriott hotels and Starwood has finally paid off. Why??? Today, Miki checked her new “BONVoY” account only to find out the following message….
Congratulations, you are Lifetime Platinum Elite
What does that mean?
It means that no matter how infrequent you travel to a Marriott portfolio hotel in the future, you will be recognized as a Platinum member in the property FOREVER. The wealth of benefit(s) includes…
Now there are other people we know that got lucky enough to be grandfathered into an even better status. It’s called Lifetime Titanium status… not complaining, but jealous!
All in all though, I’m still sad that SPG is no longer with us. It was a fantastic program that consistently put their loyal members first.
Going forward, I hope to see Marriott remember what made SPG so special and continue the tradition in making “BONVoY” an amazing program to come.
From our perspective, a lifetime Platinum status is a good place to start 😉
Chai Bear World 
relationship goals
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