What does the Starwood/Marriott Merger Mean For Family Travel

Now that the details of the Marriott and Starwood merger are being released, we can figure out what this means for family travel. I'll give you a hint, it's not great. 

One of the best perks for me personally is the FREE lounge access with the Starwood American Express Business card. My family has saved hundreds of dollars by using the Sheraton hotel lounges for breakfast and happy hour around the world. 

When I spoke with the Starwood American Express rep she confirmed that the perk was being dropped. However, they will be adding a free 1-night certificate good for a cat 1-4 hotel on your anniversary when you pay your annual fee. 

In my case, my annual fee paid in March and the lounge access perk will drop in August so for 6 months of the year, I neither get lounge access or a free night. 

The rep did not seem bothered by this at all. I will probably call again as we get closer to August. She did mention that Starwood will offer a new luxury credit card with the FREE lounge access, but she did not have details yet. She also indicated I may be able to upgrade to the new card. 

A big perk to the Starwood program that will remain intact is the bonus 5,000 points when you transfer 20,000 to an airline partner. This is good and helps when you are trying to gather enough points to fly an entire family. 

We will find out in June/July how the categories will be merged for the hotels. Rumors circulating say this could be a good thing for lower end hotels. I prefer the lower end because those brands include breakfast which I find super important when traveling with my children. 

At this point, we are still trying to sort out the positives and negatives of the merger. Stay tuned!