As part of a detailed program update, Marriott/SPG announced they are ending the Delta partnership. I liked having the free checked bag, but the closest to an upgrade I saw was being first to not clear.
Sorry Frequent Delta - SPG Customers
Yesterday, SkyMiles partner, Marriott, announced a series of changes to the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®) and Marriott Rewards programs. As a result of these changes, please be informed that: The Crossover RewardsTM program will continue through July 15, 2018, with all current benefits being honored through that date. We expect to have more to share on this program before July 15. Visit SkyMiles News and Updates for more details. Starting in August 2018, SPG and Marriott Rewards will implement a new structure for earning airline miles on stays and converting points to miles.
My SPG lifetime platinum kit arrived from FedEx! I earned my status about 3 months ago. My accomplishment was confirmed on the website, but the kit took a little while to ship. It had some standard SPG copy on platinum status along with two cool items. 1) A map of all my credited stays. Stays paid with points before those counted to elite status are not included. Still cool to look around the globe at my past 10 years.
Never mind, that sold out in about 10 minutes. I didn't ever catch the price. I guess I'll need to fly business class on United later this year to have a look.
Hilton is making their program less attractive for infrequent guests, like me. The new earning scale favors Gold and Platinum members. It doesn't bother me much because they are my second back up chain. Redemption options are too expensive anyway, so this won't change my booking preference.