Marriott, which acquired the Starwood hotel group two years ago, has merged its Marriott, Starwood and Ritz-Carlton awards plans into a single program, and will give it a new unified name next year.
In the meantime, points holders are expected to merge any duplicate accounts while still using the older names. The new program appears to keep nearly all existing benefits, and to offer some new possibilities as features of each program were kept. Some adjustments may be puzzling: Starwood points balances tripled, but the value remains the same as each point is worth less.
The merger was a source of great anxiety when originally announced, as Starwood's program was widely regarded as one of the best, and its points were known as among the ones most easily converted to airline and other programs.
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