On Friday, I covered some of the changes that Marriott recently announced concerning the merger of Marriott, SPG, and Ritz Carlton's loyalty programs. I am only discussing Marriott and SPG since those are much more commonly used than Ritz points.

In August, the loyalty programs become one, using just one point currency, award chart, elite qualifying system, etc. They will keep their separate names until 2019 when the loyalty program will be given just one (yet to be announced) name.

Marriott recently announced a lot of big changes for the future of their combined loyalty programs. Starwood Preferred Guest, Marriott, and Ritz-Carlton will merge into one program in August 2018.

Marriott bought SPG many months ago, creating not only the largest hotel portfolio in the world but also the fastest growing. August of this year marks the day the loyalty programs become one (i.e. using one point currency, award chart, elite qualifying system, etc).

The 35k offer on the SPG Business card only lasts through today, March 28, 2018. If you're interested, it's time to pull the trigger.

Last month my good friend and CPA wrote to me with various  questions regarding the hobby. He touches on a few pertinent topics that I think are worth sharing with you guys.

My response is in normal font and his original questions are in italics. Anything I added to the email to better explain something to you guys is in blue and in parentheses.

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Hey Vinnie!
Hope India was great. We're freezing our a$$es off in Maryland. The United States is miserably cold right now. Man.

As time carries on Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest are slowly altering their loyalty programs to prepare for integration. This morning Marriott announced a few new changes that will affect both Marriott and SPG members.
A Brief Catch-Up
Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest have been in the process of merging since September 2016 when Marriott announced the purchase of SPG. We were given the ability to link accounts and transfer points between programs (3 Marriott points to 1 SPG Point and vice versa) and elite status match with impressive speed, immediately following the purchase.

Yesterday Marriott Rewards offered 1,000 bonus points for answering an NFL trivia question via replying to their Tweet.

Where is the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Answer with #RewardsPoints before 8pm EDT on 10/15 and score 1,000 points if you get it right.

You can earn 1,000 Marriott Rewards for taking a few seconds out of your day to tweet the answer to an NFL trivia question tomorrow--Sunday, September 24. Well, maybe more than a few if you need to google the answer like I will as I know next to nothing about football.
How to Get the Free Points
Step 1: Connect your Twitter account to your Marriott Rewards account here.

Register here for Marriott's latest Megabonus promotion by November 30 to earn a free night at any Category 1 through 5 Marriott after completing two paid stays between tomorrow (September 12) and January 15, 2018.
How Marriott is Defining a Stay
For the purpose of the Megabonus promotion, a qualifying stay is consecutive nights at the same hotel.

Through July 14, 2017 (tomorrow), you can buy up to 30,000 Starpoints with up to a 35% discount on the normal purchase price.

When you're shut out from the majority of Chase cards, you loose access to tons of rewards and reward earning opportunities due to what everyone calls the Chase 5/24 rule. If you've opened more than five credit cards from any bank (with the exception of most business cards) in the last 24 months, then Chase will deny you for almost all of their cards (with the exception of these).