Aeroplan is offering a 35% conversion in bonus miles, along with another 5,000 bonus miles (up to) offer (for every 60,000 points exchanged) when converting Marriott, SPG or Ritz-Carlton loyalty points into Aeroplan miles. The offer is valid between September 13, 2018 and September 17, 2018.
Below are some samples of mile earning potential:
There have been quite a few changes since my last post Comparing Canadian and U.S. SPG American Express; namely the merger between Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. As a result, this post is definitely due for a major update.
One major change is that 1 Starpoint (in my previous post) is now worth 3 Marriott points. So we need to factor in this correlation if comparing to the old versions of the cards. However, for today’s post, I will focus on comparing the Canadian and U.S. version as they are currently, rather than worrying about the past.
Marriott announced more details of the merger with Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest. According to my sources, the official effective date is now August 18, 2018. Initially Marriott just said in August 2018, without a specific day.
Either way, below are some of the expected changes to watch for.
All the news seem to come out at once. We started this morning with the American Express Canada Press Release, which had a lot of confusion on whether the new earning ratios are in fact a devaluation. Now Marriott issued their own Press Release explaining some of the changes to their reward redemption schedule.
Below is a list of key changes.
American Express Canada issued a Press Release informing the changes to its Starwood Preferred Guest Co-Brand Credit Cards that are set to come into effect in August 2018. Which should correspond with the full integration of Marriott and Starwood.
Below are the key highlights of the changes to the business and personal versions of the credit cards. I put the expected changes in bold with a commentary in brackets:
It is official, at least for me, Chase Canada has fully honoured what they promised when the closed its Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. Here is a chronology is what has been happening:
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Discontinued (existing cardholders grandfathered)
All grandfathered cardholders terminated (with promise of Free Night Certificate and 15 Reward Night Credits)
Free Night Certificate Awarded
15 Reward Night Credits Awarded (see below)
Check your Marriott Rewards account. The much anticipated “Rewards Certificate MR VISA CA ANNIV FREE NGT CAT 5” due to the termination of the Chase Marriott credit cards should be coming through today.
It should look something like this when it shows up on your account:
The AC Hotels by Marriott has debuted the first of its kind in, which is only fitting seeing as AC Hotels have a European design and style. That being said, I hope to see more AC Hotels across the country as well!
AC Hotel Montréal Centre-Ville
Marriott International announced, today, that it will introduce one set of unified benefits across Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest for its members that will come into effect in August 2018.
Personally, I am very excited by what they have to offer. I think that they found a way to merge many of the good aspects of all 3 programs. It’s not perfect, but it does offer a lot of value.
Marriott is making quite a few hotel category changes this year. There are 1,083 hotels increasing in categories and 248 hotels dropping. The new changes come into effect on March 6, 2018.
In Canada, there are 46 hotels increasing and 17 decreasing. If you are planning any upcoming trips, you will want to take a closer look at which hotels are being affected to help determine when to make your reservation, whether before or after March 6, 2018.