Just had a thought about the SPG Luxury Card...

[Anonymous]

So my immediate reaction when I saw that the new SPG Luxury card from Amex would give new Platinum status after $75,000 was to think that such a high level of spend was ridiculous (after all, until now, the RC card from Chase gave you similar benefits to new Platinum for only $10,000 in spend).  However, I realized that the old Marriott card used to give you 1 elite night for $3,000 in spend.  So I calculated $75,000 divided by 34 (since you already get 15 + 1 nights with the card), and that equals the equivalent of 1 elite night for roughly $2206 in spend.  The difference of course is that with the old Marriott card you'd get an actual elite night towards lifetime status each time you spent $3,000.  However, now that Marriott has added a requirement for lifetime platinum that you need to have had platinum for 10 years, I suppose this addresses the lifetime requirements in another way...  

All this is to say, I guess the $75,000 spending requirement makes more sense than I originally thought.  Of course, whether you really want to/can put $75,000 on the card is another question entirely...

[K-in-Boston]

I’m teetering on the edge of being able to just do a mattress run at the end of the year for the remaining nights to hit Platinum, but it would be nice to be able to do it with the card especially if that means I could get Platinum sooner this year. I would MUCH rather have the Elite night credits.

My big question is whether YTD spending on the SPG will carry over to an upgraded SPG Luxury card. That is one question that I have not seen answered. I am on track to hit that and not lose too much during my downgraded “Gold Elite” period. Of course there isn’t a huge chunk of the population that this matters for, but I know there are a handful of us on this board who may be willing to do it this way. After watching the interview TPG did again, it does make sense why some of the SPG changes were made especially when you take into account that almost all cardholders spend less than $35k on the card. Unfortunately there are again a handful of us here and many more on FT and the like that put a LOT of spend on the SPG as our daily driver.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I hear you.  I keep going back and forth in my head on what I think Amex/Marriott will do about the spending requirement on the Luxury card.  On the one hand, it seems terribly unfair to only give people 4 months to accomplish something that normally you allow a year for, but, on the other hand, Marriott is already going to be flush with platinum members for a short time.  All the SPG people who stay at SPG properties only 25 stays can get Platinum through 2019, and, from what I understand from Frequent Miler and FlyerTalk, if you get the RC now, you can lock in platinum for the rest of this year.  So perhaps Marriott isn't too eager to have yet one more way to get platinum status while all of that is going on...

[K-in-Boston]

Those who stay at SPG properties 25 nights will NOT get Platinum. They will get Gold Elite. Marriott has made it quite clear that SPG members will only get matched to what they have earned in NIGHTS stayed with the new Elite chart. That’s why I’m frustrated that I’ll only have 40-something nights.

[redpat]

Pissst, Hilton Aspire.......

[Anonymous]

It’s my understanding that if you have 25 stays (not nights necessarily, but it could be if you only stay 1 night each place) by August 1, you will qualify for SPG platinum, which maps to Marriott Platinum. And then, from there, I believe Marriott has also said that you can qualify for platinum next year under any of the old programs, including the SPG 25 stays method.

[Anonymous]

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@redpat wrote:

Pissst, Hilton Aspire.......

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Haha, this is a valid point.  It's just all of the properties that I most want to stay in are in the Marriott/SPG/RC family.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And I find the $300 rebate from the Luxury card to be easier to use than the rebates with the Aspire (assuming Amex doesn't tell us before August 1 that the $300 can't be used on room rates...).  While Hilton resorts are nice, I'm not sure that I want to plan all of my future vacations around resorts just to ensure I get the $250 rebate.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
It’s my understanding that if you have 25 stays (not nights necessarily, but it could be if you only stay 1 night each place) by August 1, you will qualify for SPG platinum, which maps to Marriott Platinum. And then, from there, I believe Marriott has also said that you can qualify for platinum next year under any of the old programs, including the SPG 25 stays method.

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Yeah I believe August 1st is the cut off time. But I'm guessing that will just get you Platinum for the remainder of the year? I'm Platinum now since I hit 50 nights last year, but I only have 15 nights right now (thank you SPG cards lol). Now that I'll be able to use both Marriott and SPG for stays, I should hit 50 easier. 

I haven't made up my mind on whether to keep the SPG/Biz SPG or upgrade to the the Luxury Card. Besides the better 'annual free room', I can't piece together any real additional benefits that would be helpful.

[K-in-Boston]

Yes, the 50 nights currently needed for SPG Platinum is the same as the new Platinum Elite. The 25 STAYS for SPG Platinum (if completed by July 31st) will convert to the new Platinum Elite. But if SPG Platinum has not been achieved before August 1st, it’s the 50 nights requirement. Status earned between now and December 31st would be good until February 2020. Unfortunately, for those who only have one SPG card, we only get 5 Elite night credits for 2018 and not the 15 credits for having any Marriott/SPG card.

[iced]

Has there been any word from Marriott about how nights accumulated this year are going to combine after August 1? Will my nights to attain status next year be based on combined SPG/Marriott nights, including those from Jan to Aug, or will my pre-August SPG nights go poof?

How about lifetime nights? Will the SPG nights I have get added to my current lifetime totals with Marriott?