When the acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide by Marriott International was announced back in the autumn of 2015, casualties were bound to occur. As one example, the Crossover Rewards comprehensive joint loyalty partnership between Delta Air Lines and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide — through which the members of their frequent travel loyalty programs who have earned elite level status were able to enjoy reciprocal benefits — ceased to exist as of yesterday, Sunday, July 15, 2018…
Another Casualty of the Acquisition of Starwood by Marriott
…and as of Tuesday, July 31, 2018, you will no longer earn Starpoints on tickets purchased in conjunction with Audience Rewards, according to a message which I received in my e-mail account this morning:
Dear Member,
You are receiving this message because your Audience Rewards account is set to earn Starpoints in the Starwood Preferred Guest® program. At this time, the last day to purchase tickets that earn Starpoints is Tuesday, 7/31. Any qualifying purchase made by this date is eligible to earn Starpoints, subject to standard program rules. Any purchases not including your Audience Rewards member number at the time of purchase will not be eligible to earn Starpoints. Additionally, members can continue to redeem Starpoints with Audience Rewards through 7/31 only.
Don’t worry — you can still earn valuable points when you buy tickets to participating shows on Broadway and beyond. Your account will automatically be set to earn ShowPoints beginning 8/1. ShowPoints are redeemable for free and discounted tickets, merchandise, unique experiences and more. To view or update your preferences, click here.
Questions? Contact our Customer Service team Monday – Friday from 8am-8pm EST at 866-313-9635, or email customer.service@audiencerewards.com. Thanks for being a member of the Official Rewards Program of Broadway.
– The Audience Rewards team
About Audience Rewards
Audience Rewards is the official rewards loyalty program of Broadway and the arts through which you can earn points — as well as goods and services — every time you purchase a ticket and enter your Audience Rewards membership number for a performance on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera and other venues.
The partnership between Starwood Preferred Guest and Audience Rewards was launched in January of 2011. Moreover, members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program used to be able to earn two Starpoints for each trivia question which was answered correctly. This option to earn free Starpoints — which was first launched in July of 2011 — quietly ended with no announcement or notice approximately two years later.
Summary
The primary reason why I became a member of Audience Rewards was to earn those aforementioned free Starpoints by answering trivia questions. Two free Starpoints per answered question was better than nothing for a few seconds worth of effort, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, Audience Rewards will not be a partner of the Marriott Rewards frequent guest loyalty program; so if you are an active member of Audience Rewards who preferred earning Starpoints on ticket purchases, you are out of luck.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
