About a year ago, we received an email from Delta Hotels about changes to their Privileges program that were going to happen late in 2014. The hotel chain was also set to embark on a huge marketing campaign, change in marketing tactics and more all throughout the year. When late 2014 rolled by, Delta had opened their new flagship hotel in Toronto to much hurrah but the relaunch of the new Delta Privilege program never transpired. And now we probably know why. Who knows how long these two chains were in talks but we can wager a good guess that when things starting getting serious Delta put a hold on the revamp of their in house FGP. Now that it is official and Marriott is set to buy Delta Hotels, Marriott Rewards will eventually become the program of choice for one of our largest Canadian hotel chains.
From the press release today:
…the integration of Delta into Marriott’s 4,100 plus hotel global
portfolio will provide new travel opportunities for both Delta and
Marriott customers. We expect integrating Delta into Marriott’s systems,
sales engines, Marriott.com, and the more than 49 million member
Marriott Rewards loyalty program will create meaningful operational
synergies for owners and franchisees.
This is both good news and bad news. There are many Delta Privilege members who love(d) the program. We received numerous emails from our readers on how they loved the simplicity of it and now it is likely those dining and upgrade benefits will be lost to the usual slate of benefits with Marriott Rewards. On the flipside however, Marriott Rewards represents thousands of hotels Worldwide and now those Delta regulars will have an opportunity to use points earned at their beloved Delta locations at Marriott locales around the globe! Not to mention you’ll be able to use points earned on the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card at Delta locations (sorry had to get the credit card mention in as it Delta never had one!)
The deal is still subject to government approval but they do expect that by Q2 2015 the deal will be complete and we would guess that integration into Marriott Rewards may take another 6-12 months (based on the recent purchase of Protea Hotels in South Africa by Marriott)
What are your thoughts? We know there are lots of Delta Privilege members who read Rewards Canada everyday! Are you happy? Are you fuming? Let us know!