Reviews

Marriott should poach Hyatt Elites with a Status Match

a stuffed animal sitting on a luggage bag outside of a building

We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.


Marriott should poach Hyatt Elites with a Status Match

Just throwing it out there. The merger has changed the game. Marriott is the largest hotel group in the world with over 5500 properties and 30 brands. After hearing execs speak at BACON3 it’s clear that loyalty and emotional connection are paramount to the newly formed company. Recently we heard Hyatt stripped their program for mid tiers and made top tier only available by nights, not stays. I think Marriott has a TON of competitive advantage and when I was writing the MMMondayMemo it got me thinking….Marriott should poach Hyatt Elites with a Status Match.

Marriott has some SICK properties.

I’ve stayed in a load of Marriott properties and recently just reviewd two in London: Edition and Park Lane. Both were OUTSTANDING. Additionally, Marriott absolutely murders Mid-Tier and without the ability to earn Hyatt  through stays…I think they could absorb some of that consumer base.

Recently, I had a stay at a Grand Hyatt and then a Marriott Marquis in D.C. – The Marquis MURDERED the Grand Hyatt

I just stayed at the Marriott Marquis as a Gold member. Now granted, I was there with the Boarding Area Conference BACon3 so I may have gotten some suite hookups, but I would have gotten club anyways. Compared to the Grand Hyatt Washington D.C. it was newer, offered more food and free booze in the club ( which Golds have access to), and had one of the sickest hotel gyms I’ve ever seen.

Grand Hyatt

Marriott Marquis

I’ve been upgraded in the past to Suites with Gold status…as I did at the Grosvenor House in the beginning of 2015.

Grosvenor House

 

Hyatt Diamonds could see what it’s like to be SPG Platinum and maybe check out what the St Regis brand has to offer. Like the St. Regis New York

St Regis New York
courtsey of stregisnewyork.com

Hyatt members that fall between Plat and Diamond and get Explorist should get Gold

I think Marriott Gold rewards their  members with far more benefits than the current Hyatt Platinum ( which isn’t fair cause Gold requires 50 nights and Hyatt Platinum just 5 stays), but more importantly going forward, with the newly formed Explorist. I argued in a recent post that it will be easier for people to stay 50 nights in Marriott hotels than 30 nights in Hyatt. This is a great opportunity to show those mid tiers what Marriott can offer with mid tier as well.

I loved my stay at the Marriott Park Lane where I enjoyed the club immensely.

marriott-park-lane-london-59-of-67

Marriott has great timeshare properties where owners can earn Marriott Rewards, and Marriott Rewards members can redeem as well.

I enjoyed my time at the Marriott Grande Lakes immensely. There are over 50 Marriott Vacation Club resorts around the world and are excellent if you have a family. Some, like the Marriott Grand Lakes, share property benefits with Marriott hotels like the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton.

marriott-grand-lakes-review-3-bedroom-villa-1-of-39

 

I think the newly formed Marriott, chalked full of aspirational properties, has a huge opportunity to accumulate more loyalty customers given the devaluation of Hyatt Gold Passport

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with blue lines and white text

Learn More

Affiliate Link

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 2x on all other travel
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
  • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
  • $95 Annual Fee

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

2 Comments

  • Bctraveler November 10, 2016

    Marriott should first enlighten SPG ‘for life’ members on their plans. Then go after new business. FYI… should my for life status evaporate it’s off to price line for me.. then the only loyalty I will have to consider is my loyalty to my hard earned $$$

    • Miles November 10, 2016

      Bctraveler – I had the opportunity to attend a loyalty seminar with Marriott and SPG execs and it’s certainly high on their list. Looking at what’s been done with the SPG to MR ratio and status matches I would hope they would positively tend to the promises SPG made to lifetimers or people will abandon ship as you will

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.