Many of you are aware of the recent hotel merger and acquisition deal.

Marriott took over Starwood, making it the largest hotel company in the world, with 5,700 properties and 1.1 million rooms.

But that was just the start of the hotel merger game.

In the last 12 months, AccorHotels purchased Fairmont.

China’s HNA group acquired 25 percent of Hilton for about $6.5 billion.

HNA also closed the deal to acquire all of Carlson hotels—and there have been many other deals.

What does this mean to you? In the short term, it means nothing.

But some of your favorite brands may be merged as well, if not jettisoned in these deals.

What does that mean for hotel frequent stay programs?

If there are fewer hotels and fewer brands, it means less competition between them and less competition for your loyalty.

If you have frequent stay points, you might want to start using them sooner than later—while you still can.

No, the hotels won’t get rid of these programs, but like the airlines, they will almost certainly move to make the points harder to earn and harder to redeem.

For more information about hotels and accommodations, check out:

• New Survey Finds the Best Rewards Programs for Hotel Chains
• How Mergers Could Affect Your Hotel Loyalty Points
• What Major Hotel Mergers Mean For You

Keep reading for more travel tips.