Back in fall of 2016 Marriott Hotels completed the acquisition of Starwood Hotels. Not only was this a huge deal in terms of hotel portfolios it was a huge deal in regards to the loyalty programs of the two chains, well technically three since Ritz-Carlton Rewards is also being included. Were Starwood Preferred Guest members going to continue to enjoy what many considered the best hotel program in the world? Were Marriott Bonvoy members going to receive new benefits that SPG members were receiving? There were many questions that needed to be answered and since that time in 2016 we have covered the merger of the three loyalty programs very closely and have had a lot of blog posts detailing every bit of news around it. To help our readers we have created this summary page, a table of contents of sorts to help you find all the articles easily so that you can stay abreast of the merger of these programs that will be happening in August of 2018. This is still big news and will remain as such well into 2019. So what can you or should you do? Read over our various articles and watch, listen or read the media coverage on the subject to keep up to date, learn what to do with your miles and more. We recommend bookmarking this page and checking back frequently as we will be adding more articles as time goes by.

• The Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is here - replaces the SPG Amex card with a 60,000 point welcome bonus!

• Marriott Bonvoy reveals March 5 as the date that Category 8 comes into effect as well as 380+ hotel category changes

• Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to become Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

• It's confirmed - Marriott Bonvoy is the brand new name of the combined Marriott, SPG, Ritz-Carlton loyalty program

• Marriott Rewards Update: Category 8 hotels will go into effect March 2019

• August 18 is the confirmed date for the new combined Marriott Bonvoy Starwood Preferred Guest program
  July 30, 2018 Rewards Canada is back from vacation and of course last week was filled with more news than we typically…
  
  
• Amex Membership Rewards to the new Marriott Bonvoy/Starwood Preferred Guest program conversion rate is here!
  July 20, 2018 - The new rate has been revealed and it is 20% less than what we are used to. 1,000 Membership Rewards points will convert to 1,200 points on the new program
  
  
• Marriott Travel Packages will lose a lot of value come August
  July 12, 2018 - We look at how the very popular Marriott Travel Packages will be handled after August 2018.
  
  
• New Free Night Award Chart for the combined Marriott Bonvoy, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and SPG program has been released
  June 29, 2018 We learn where the 6,500+ hotels will fall into in the new free night award categories
  
  
• New earn rates and benefits revealed for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
  June 28, 2018 The only credit card that earns Starpoints (or Marriott Bonvoy points) in Canada reveals the new earn rates on the card when the programs merge in August
  
  
• What happens to Marriott Free Night Certificates come August
  June 26, 2018 We learn where existing free night certificates will map to in the new program.
  
  
• Some lifetime SPG Platinums will receive new Platinum Premier status
  May 14, 2018 When most of the details of the merger of the programs was announced many SPG Lifetime Platinums weren't happy with what they would be offered. Marriott listened and made some adjustments!
  
  
• Podcast Episode 43
  April 24, 2018 The Marriott Bonvoy - Starwood Preferred Guest Unification Episode! Includes comments from Marriott Canada's Director of Loyalty Marketing
  
  
• We have a preview of some new redemption rates with the combined Marriott Bonvoy-Starwood Preferred Guest program
  April 23, 2018 We get a sneak peak of where some hotels will place in the new award charts
  
  
• Further details to the combination of the Marriott Bonvoy, Starwood Preferred Guest and Ritz-Carlton Rewards Programs
  April 18, 2018 A follow up to the big reveal with more details on the unification of the programs
  
  
• Marriott Bonvoy and Starwood Preferred Guest come together with the announcement of one set of benefits
  April 16, 2018 Today was the day when most of the details were released about the integration of the programs - points earning, points redeeming, elite status and more
  
  
• Starwood and Marriott announce some changes for 2018 including no integration... yet
  Nov 28, 2017 SPG gained Hertz and Marriott extended rollover nights
  
  
• Marriott acquisition of Starwood is complete - You can already link accounts, status match and transfer points!
  September 23, 2016 A great first step in the integration of the programs!