Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.
CNBC is reporting that Starwood has signed a deal to sell to Anbang Insurance Group, a company in China. But Marriott has pledged to counter.
I’ll explain what this means for Starwood points!
What Will Your Starwood Points Be Worth After the Merger?
As of now, no one knows for certain what will happen to Starwood’s popular loyalty program after the hotel chain is officially sold.
But based on what Marriott has said in interviews, it seems Marriott would eliminate the Starwood name brand. And my feeling is that Marriott will also remove many of the loyalty benefits we love about Starwood such transferring Starwood points to airlines at a great rate. Again, this is not for certain, it’s just a hunch.
However if Anbang successfully purchases Starwood, they may be more likely to leave the Starwood brand (and hopefully their loyalty program) intact. That’s because Anbang values the strong brand as a way to diversify its assets outside of China. But again, this is conjecture.
So far, Anbang has reached a deal to purchase Strategic Hotels & Resorts, along with their 2014 acquisition of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.
Marriott has 5 days to respond.
This a developing story, so we’ll see what happens next!
Limited-Time Offer for AMEX Starwood Cards With 35,000 Point Bonuses
Link: American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (Personal)
Link: American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (Small Business)
Link: My Review of the Increased 35,000 Point AMEX Starwood Offers
The AMEX Starwood cards are offering their highest sign-up bonuses ever. But the promotion ends March 30, 2016.
Emily and I both collect Starwood points, mainly to use at their top hotels to pay for rooms that are otherwise too expensive! Emily is planning to apply for the Starwood small business card this time around.
She recently used Starwood points to stay at the Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice.
As of now, I suggest earning the bonus with an eye towards using the points soon.
Ways to Use Starwood Points
Here are ideas for how to use the Starwood points you’ll earn with the cards.
- Starwood Cash & Points
- 7 Week-Long Vacation Ideas Using Starwood’s 35,000 Point Bonus
- 6 Super 6-Night Starwood Stays Using Starwood’s Sign-Up Bonus + $660
- How to Use the Starwood Card Bonus to Fly Business Class to the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and in the US
- 5 Top European Hotels to Book With Starwood Points
Who would you rather see win this bidding war, Marriott or Anbang?
I find this site to be wonderful. I don’t have time to scour Flyertalk, so for me MMS is the best source of information.
@Bill Thanks for the correction.
@Bart Although I keep hoping, I’ve never gotten any new good information here. Most of the posts here are trash meant to increase their traffic and referral income.
For the most part, if information here is good, it’s old. If it’s new, it’s bad.
Do you know at about what month of the year SPG offers an extra 5k to transfer miles to AA? Do you think there will be such a promotion before it changes?
@sechs actually Marriott has ten days per starwoods announcement.
So real gist of this post:
“What does this mean for your points?!: I don’t know except I’ll speculate something not as bad because I speculated based on no evidence something really bad before. So shot in the dark we’re not so bad off”
“BUT GET THE CREDIT CARD BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”