Marriott’s New Unified Loyalty Program ‘Bonvoy’ Launches in February

Marriott finally announced the name of its new unified loyalty program. The highly-anticipated “Marriott Bonvoy” will be available starting February 13th.

The new program combines Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards. The company began this transition in August 2018, though some customers were disappointed with their rewards values. SPG members in particular felt their rewards lost value during the merger, while Marriott Rewards members were moved to higher tiers.

The core perks of the program remain unchanged, but the rewards program will have a new logo and mobile app. SPG and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will be asked to download the Marriott app, which will automatically update to the Marriott Bonvoy app when the new name launches. The other two applications will be discontinued.

With Marriott Bonvoy, cardholders will receive an average of 20% more points per $1, according to Marriott’s Global CCO, Stephanie Linnartz. The Elite rewards tier will now be broken into two new tiers: Titanium Elite for members who stay more than 75 nights, and Ambassador Elite for those who stay more than 100 nights.

Marriott acquired Starwood Hotels in 2016, making it the world’s largest hotel chain. Since the acquisition, Marriott had to combat the aftermath of a 2014 data breach that was not discovered until recently. The company has eliminated Starwood’s compromised database and has converted all reservations to one system.