Adiós SPG

Almost 2 years after the announcement of the SPG-Marriott merger on September 23rd, 2016, these 2 loyalty programs are finally merging on August 18th, 2018.

SPG has been my preferred loyalty program since I first signed up for it in April 2015. Even though  I'm a lil' bummed that the program is rolling into Marriott's big umbrella, I can't really say it's all bad as I've benefited a pretty good bit from the merger and have certainly enjoyed all the perks and benefits.
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To celebrate my 1212 days of SPG membership, I decided to compile some stats just for fun:

No. of hotels → 26

No. of nights → 165

• 2015 - 31 nights
• 2016 - 53 nights
• 2017 - 59 nights
• 2018 - 22 nights

No. of brands → 7

• Aloft - 5 nights
• Four Points - 2 nights
• Le Meridien - 29 nights
• Sheraton - 34 nights
• Tribute - 19 nights
• W - 3 nights
• Westin - 73 nights​

​Total points earned → 347,619

• Stays - 81,411 points
• Bonuses - 141,200 points
• Platinum gift - 33,000
• Make a Green Choice - 41,500
• SPG Amex cc - 35,127
• Delta Crossover - 10,145
• Uber - 5,236

​Total points redeemed → 327,000

• Aloft Cancun - 10,000 points
• Virgin America (Alaska) - 40,000
• 3x Marriott Travel Packages - 277,000 points​

No.	Hotel	Country	State	Brand	Night
1	Sheraton Birmingham	USA	Alabama	Sheraton	6
2	Westin Huntsville	USA	​Alabama	Westin	5
3	Aloft Birmingham Soho Square	USA	​Alabama	Aloft	1
4	Sheraton Suites Tampa Westshore	USA	Florida	Sheraton	12
5	Westshore Grand Tampa	USA	Florida	Tribute	19
6	Westin Tampa Bay	USA	Florida	Westin	2
7	Four Points Tampa	USA	​Florida	Four Points	1
8	Westin Atlanta Perimeter North	USA	Georgia	Westin	35
9	Le Meridien Atlanta Perimeter North	USA	Georgia	Le Meridien	5
10	Sheraton Atlanta Perimeter North	USA	Georgia	Sheraton	10
11	W Atlanta Midtown	USA	Georgia	W	1
12	Four Points Chicago Ohare	USA	Illinois	Four Points	1
13	W Minneapolis	USA	Minnesota	W	2
14	Westin Minneapolis	USA	Minnesota	​Westin	1
15	Westin New York Grand Central	USA	New York	Westin	5
16	Sheraton New York Times Square	USA	New York	Sheraton	2
17	Sheraton Raleigh	USA	N. Carolina	Sheraton	2
18	Le Meridien Philadelphia	USA	Pennsylvania	Le Meridien	5
19	Sheraton Music City Hotel	USA	Tennessee	Sheraton	1
20	Aloft Frisco	USA	Texas	Aloft	1
21	Westin Galleria Dallas	USA	Texas	Westin	24
22	Le Meridien Dallas Stoneleigh	USA	Texas	Le Meridien	5
23	Le Meridien Dallas Galleria	USA	Texas	Le Meridien	14
24	Aloft Cancun	Mexico	Cancun	Aloft	3
25	Sheraton Imperial KL	Malaysia	KL	Sheraton	1
26	Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa	Malaysia	Langkawi	Westin	1
				TOTAL	165

​Pre-merger Completed Tasks

​​1. Booked 1 award night at Four Points Auckland
There's a high chance that I won't need this hotel, but because the rate will be going from 21,000 points (7,000 SPG) to 25,000 points after August 18th, 2018, I decided to book it first and cancel later if I don't need it. 

2. Confirmed existing reservation for Westin Fiji
Booked this hotel with the 1 free night from my SPG 50-night benefit, and made sure that the booking is still intact. No plans on changing this stay so they'd better not have any issues.

3. Transferred points to Marriott to redeem 2 Hotel & Air packages
The lucrative Marriott Travel Packages will be significantly devalued after August 18th, 2018. I value airline miles much more than hotel points, so it's hard to beat the transfer ratio under the old travel packages. I transferred almost all of my SPG points to Marriott to redeem 2 hotel + air packages, one for United and another for Alaska miles. I'm not sure where I want to go with the 7 nights Cat 1-5 hotel certificate yet, so I decided to let it 'float'. Hope to find out what happens to all unattached certificates soon!

Seems like I'll be planning a 'slow' vacation somewhere next year

Thank you SPG, it has been a great ride! Please continue to be good under Marriott.

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