SPG: Welcome to Marriott Integration Chaos

The Marriott and SPG Integration Occurred August 18, 2018, with the two programs becoming one, but unfortunately there are still a number of ongoing issues, judging from FlyerTalk posts:

Missing Points and Missing Stays

Flyertalker Vulcan reports missing 65,000 Marriott points and 100 Marriott stays, even though previously Vulcan had merged SPG and Marriott accounts:

“I merged my accounts a few days ago from my SPG account where I had 265,000 SPG points and about 450 lifetime nights. I am SPG Platinum. I had about 100 nights with Marriott.

When I go into my account with my new number through the SPG site, it shows I have 795,000 new rewards points. The 65,000 for Marriott appear to be lost. Nowhere does it show my lifetime nights in the combined program (~550). For nights this year, it shows my SPG nights, but the nights I spent at Marriott are missing.

What a mess. Is there any sense that they will eventually get this corrected?

I am holding off on any Marriott bookings until it is.”

Award Stay E-Certificates Missing

Meanwhile, OliverB, who had a Hawaii award stay booked and the points already deducted from his account, found that there was no longer a record of the award certificates, and the system was repricing his award:

“This is such a mess… I have a 7 night…award stay and the required points were removed from my account months ago and certificate was ordered and supposedly sent to the hotel. Now I'm seeing no acknowledgment of that anywhere….

…Looking at account activity, it shows that I redeemed a 5 night award cert (-180,000 Points) for a cat. 9 hotel and then a 2 night award cert (-90,000 Points) both on 05/26.  Now my reservation shows that I owe 300,000 points! Not only have my e-certificates been knocked out but it's reflecting the NEW redemption rate which is total BS. Customers shouldn't have to be sorting out Marriott's messed up system. I'm really aggravated about this: 30 min on wait now for a supervisor and I'm still on hold.”

Long Hold Times

I've waited on hold for over 30 minutes, and while I'm doing other work during the hold, it's annoying to have to wait 30 minutes which I can't recall ever doing with SPG. Yet apparently this is nothing compared to what other Flyertalkers are reporting, such as KenInEscazu, bolding mine:

“I'm extremely disappointed in Marriott's failure to prepare for all of the snags. I was on hold last night for over an hour. I finally gave up and went to bed. Been holding for 15 minutes today, and I'm listening to the same music/promise that an associate will be with me momentarily that I heard for so long last night. This is a massive fail. Anyone at all familiar with IT would have known that this was going to cause a lot pf problems for customers.”

And MSPeconomist writes: “Sorry, but fifteen or thirty minutes of hold time is NOTHING for Starriott. One day I gave up after over three and a half hours as a PP. One solution is Hyatt. Another is Hilton.”

My Gripes: Impossible to Transfer Points to Another Member Online, and Transfer to Airline Partners Not Working Correctly Online

While I transferred the bulk of SPG points that I needed to before the merger date, I discovered my husband was short a few points for a planned transfer out to a frequent flyer program that is in his name, so I need to transfer him 42,000 of my points (the equivalent of 14,000 old Starpoints, since each SPG Starpoint got converted into 3 points in the new program).

So I searched for a way to do that online. Unfortunately, all the Web site said, under the Redeem Points page in the “Share Your Points” section was to call Member Support at 888-625-4988. Which I did. After about 40 minutes I finally got through to an associate who was able to transfer the points over.

But then I discovered another problem: the transfer I'd initiated this morning of my husband's points out to an airline frequent flyer program hadn't gone through at all, notwithstanding a Web site confirmation screen. It didn't even appear in his activity section, and all the points still appeared to be in his account. Nor had he received any email notification of an initiated points transfer.

I asked the associate about this, and he admitted that the Web site wasn't working correctly. Then I asked if he could help with this transfer over the phone. No dice–he said that he couldn't do it on his end either. So I asked him how transfers to airline partners are supposed to work. No answer, and he said he'd try to get me to a supervisor. 10 minute hold in silence. Then hold music comes back on. Finally I talk to another rep who confirms that the entire transfer system is down, and thousands of members are also in the same boat, of not being able to transfer points out to airline partners.

Convenient, no doubt, for Marriott, if points transfers to airlines cost Marriott more than it cares for. But all the frustration Marriott is causing former SPG loyalists, including some top tier elites, may also prove more costly than anticipated to the bottom line.

Have you experienced frustrations with the SPG Marriott Integration?

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