Yesterday I wrote about the comparatively poor experience I had at the Sheraton Gunter in San Antonio.  This morning I woke up to a series of emails from the hotel GM, Rick Harrison, and his associated staff.  While it’s not normally my policy to name names in posts, I mention Rick here because he demonstrated that kind of ownership that seemed to be lacking among his staff – it’s a compliment to his take-charge of a problem kind of attitude, not any sort of “outing” him or disparaging his management skills.

Rick explained that the hot tub was indeed out of service but had not been marked as such and no notification had been made to guests, and that he’d be working with his engineering staff to understand why the pool area was in the state it was.  Rick describes the problem as recent, and waiting on a part to get the hot tub fixed – not an ongoing problem.  I have no reason to not believe this.

Additionally, Rick expressed his belief that proper staffing is essential, especially when that staffing relates to a published benefit of Starwood’s program.  He also stated that the hotel’s Guest Satisfaction scores are above average and that they manage to provide an above-average experience.  Looking at TripAdvisor’s page for the hotel I’d have to agree: of 394 ratings, 288 are Very Good or Excellent.  Additionally they respond to a significant number of the comments – good and bad – and are working to keep their social media status “between the guardrails.”

My personal experience is such that I’m likely to book any further travel at the Westin – I prefer the experience the Westin brand provides and I’ve noted a strong consistency from property to property.  I do, however, appreciate the outreach, and I wish Rick and his staff well as they work to build consistency in their application of customer service.

Note: Without my asking (and before I’d seen the email thread to his staff), Rick provided compensation for our poor experience.  This is not something I’d asked for, not something he had to do and not something I’d have requested or demanded.  I do appreciate it, and I believe it’s his sincere approach to making a situation right.  I disclose this here only to be fair and complete in my reporting – and I also want to state that Rick did not request this update or note – this is my response to his ownership of the issue(s).  I will not, however, disclose what that compensation was as I don’t want to set a precedent for others to attempt to build “demands” on.

Today’s post is a comparison of two Starwood properties, two stays, and two different experiences – all in the same city in the same week.  The difference between a Sheraton and a Westin within 2 miles of each other is stark – and all boils down to customer service.  The properties, both Starwood properties, could not have presented a more different experience (even taking into account the brand standards of Sheraton vs. Westin franchises) and illustrates the difference that hotel category makes.  For reference, the Sheraton Gunter is a Category 2 property, the Westin Riverwalk is a Category 4 property (on a scale of 1 to 7).

Friday I had the occasion to check into the Sheraton Gunter hotel in San Antonio, TX.  This was for a family weekend preceding a conference being hosted at the Westin Riverwalk, also in San Antonio.  I followed the directions provided by Google Maps and turned into the attached parking garage (with no access gate and no lit signage).  Almost immediately a large Cadillac SUV pulled up behind me and blocked me into my parking space, honking and blinking its high beam headlights (a little excessive in any circumstance).  A Sheraton valet got out, came to my window and asked if I were valet parking my car.  Replying that I wasn’t, he then pointed me to the public parking garage across the street.  I don’t typically valet a vehicle unless a property doesn’t have public parking on-site or close-by.  Checking into the cost here, the public garage literally across the street cost $9/day whereas the Sheraton, valet-only, cost $28/day (more than three times the price).  More important to me is that although the garage was less than 1/3rd full, the Sheraton still saw fit to offer no public parking at appropriate self-pay rates.  Strike one.  Walking into the lobby to check in revealed a line of people waiting on a front desk agent.  Although there was a Starwood Preferred Guest sign at one of the agent stations, that one wasn’t occupied – the SPG Priority checkin wasn’t staffed.  Strike two.  Checkin went fine and I was informed that I’d been upgraded to a Club Floor room and that no suites were available.  Fair enough – it was the weekend before a conference and was Armed Forces Day in San Antonio which included a special commemorative parade along the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Suite upgrades aren’t guaranteed and I can’t hold that against the hotel – had I wanted to guarantee a suite, I certainly could have reserved one.  The room we were in was just fine and I have no complaints.  The amenities, especially the pool and hot tub, were pathetic.  The pool looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in days and the filter was inoperative, with bits of hair and leaves floating on the surface and an oily sheen present.  The hot tub was cold… the heater apparently not working.  I went to the front desk and politely asked if they had anyone to at least skim the pool, describing it’s current state.  While the front desk assured me they would have it done immediately, nobody appeared during the next hour and a half we spent enjoying the sun – a false promise and a definite lack of service.  Granted, we didn’t’ spend an inordinate amount of time at the hotel – we enjoyed the city instead – it’s always disappointing when a property shows such disregard for what it has to offer and a lack of customer service focus from its staff.

Compare this to the Westin Riverwalk.  At checkin on Sunday afternoon I was notified that I’d been upgraded to a city view suite.  Staying alone for the week and being at a conference from early morning until late night, I didn’t need a suite and preferred the possibility of a river view room with a balcony.  This request was easily accommodated and I traded my suite upgrade for a river view balcony upgrade instead.  No suite, but a perfectly adequate bed and workspace for a week – especially being able to work on email on the balcony overlooking the river and its activity.  The pool?  Well maintained and clean – a great place to relax at the end of the day.  The experience?  Perfect customer service, perfect accommodation and all without dropping a beat.  While the Westin doesn’t have a club lounge they do host La Merienda, an evening gathering in the lobby with cocktails, sangria, wines and crudités along with latin-inspired entertainment.  Another nice touch is that the hotel’s restaurant participates in the SPG Restaurants and Bars program (neither of the restaurants at the Sheraton Gunter do), which provides a nice benefit for SPG members: 10% off when dining at the restaurant, including when dining as a guest.  Although it’s business travel and ends up on an expense report, every penny saved is potential profit for the company and the in-house restaurant has very competitive prices for the area.

The moral of the story?  Do your homework before picking a property: category matters.  There’s a reason the Sheraton Gunter is a Category 2 property – it’s functionally equivalent to a Motel 6.  While it may meet Sheraton’s brand standards, it’s a “barely there” in terms of effort, and it shows.  And if you want better service and amenities?  Find the best category property you can afford – the difference in satisfaction will contribute to the overall enjoyment of your trip.

In one of those rare moments where an airline exec says what they really mean to say, I present the following:

United Continental Holdings, Inc. at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference

John Rainey, CFO of United Airlines, said (at 11:49 in the webcast)

“We had certain groups in this program that were over-entitled”

How about it, United / Continental flyers?  Are you over-entitled?  Had United given you too much as an elite flyer and were the rollbacks in your program benefits something you expected and agree with or does United simply not appreciate those that fly it frequently?

For what it’s worth I’m giving up my Premier Platinum status – I’ll have zero flights on United this year.  Flying for a 75% bonus when I can get 100% on three other airlines makes zero sense for me.

Comments are open – your thoughts and/or response?  What would you like to tell United… and John Rainey?

In the vein of status tracking, I’ve just checked in at the SPG property that represents my 25th stay this year (and nights 40 and 41), crossing the re-qualification threshold for SPG Platinum through 2013.  Assuming the Mayans are wrong, I’ll enjoy another year of fantastic service from SPG next year.  Now the race continues for the 50/75/100 night benefit tiers – I’ll have 49 nights by the end of the month and cross 50 the first week in June.  The way things are going I should be across 75 nights by the end of summer.  That’s my goal as it qualifies me for an additional Starpoint per dollar (not retroactively, unfortunately) and the Your24 program, which lets you set your check-in/check-out times.

The current promo makes staying at SPG properties this quarter a slam-dunk; the race to nights/year makes choosing SPG over another program competitive through the 75 night threshold (I don’t care about having a personal ambassador, the benefit at 100 nights – I make my own travel plans, often on the fly – such is the nature of my work).

Update: About checkin at the W Atlanta (Buckhead)… walked in to the desk (behind a gentleman who apparently was booked at the Westin and came to the W in error). Upon my turn (< 30 seconds) I walked up, gave my name and the desk agent: found the reservation, greeted me, noted my platinum status, asked about points vs. amenity, found an upgraded room (Fabulous to Wonderful), proactively asked about MAGC, printed me a key and directed me to the elevators. All in less than 5 minutes. I didn’t have to request anything: upgrade, MAGC, etc. – she was on top of every bit of it.  Given that this is my 25th stay this year (and will represent nights 40 and 41), it was a nice experience.

Doubling my Starpoints on for the entire period with no limit? That’s awesome!  Let’s start from the beginning – for an SPG Platinum member putting stays on the SPG Amex, the following base point structure applies:

• 2 Starpoints / $ for Base Spend
• 1 Starpoint / $ for Platinum Bouns
• 1 Starpoint / $ for SPG Amex Spend
• Total: 4 Starpoints / $

With the Triple Points After 15 Nights option under the SPG Nice Choice promo that increases to:

• 2 Starpoints / $ for Base Spend
• 1 Starpoint / $ for Platinum Bouns
• 1 Starpoint / $ for SPG Amex Spend
• 4 Starpoints / $ for Nice Choice Promo choice
• Total: 8 Starpoints / $

Now factor in the Platinum amenity choice. On even something as cheap as a $100 night you’ll earn 1300 Starpoints (100*8 + 500). A $150 night is 1700 Starpoints (150*8 + 500).

With my travel pattern I’ve got nearly 20 nights booked at SPG properties in May alone, with likely another 15 in June and July, easy. So for 60 nights with an average cost of $125 and an average 2 nights/stay I’m looking at $125 * 60 nights = $7,500 total spend, which nets 60,000 Starpoints on the spend ($7500 * 8 pts/$) and 15,000 Starpoints in Platinum Amenities (30 stays @ 500 points/stay for the amenity) for a total of 75,000 Starpoints.

75,000 Starpoints on $7,500 spend is 10 Starpoints/dollar. What’s not awesome about that?

For your travel pattern, which Nice Choice promo have you chosen?

If you’re a Premier member on United (Silver, Gold, Platinum, 1K) and would like to experience the benefits of status on American, now is your chance.  While American usually offers status matching through challenges that require flying a certain number of points (combination of fare class and distance) in 90 days, they’re now offering a direct status match for UA fliers discontent after the merger and the problems it brought.

As noted in this thread on Flyertalk, here are the details:

Call AA at 1-800-882-8880.  They will send you an email that will detail the required documentation to process the match:

In order to proceed, please provide us with documentation reflecting the Premier level that you hold with United Airlines.
Please send us the following documentation. Simply “Reply” to this message, and for prompt service, do not change the subject line:

• A copy of your dated elite membership card reflecting your name and Premier status level for the 2012 Membership Year (.pdf, .tif, .jpeg, .bmp formats, not to exceed 1MB).  Alternatively, you could send a copy or screen shot of your most recent account summary, reflecting your name and Premier status level (.pdf, .tif, .jpeg, .bmp formats, not to exceed 1MB).
• Your AAdvantage number and phone number

Once your documentation is accepted, you will receive an email within10 days confirming your new AAdvantage elite status, which will be valid through February 28, 2013. Your credentials will follow in 3-5 weeks. Please note the following status equivalents:

• AAdvantage Gold® membership for Premier Silver
• AAdvantage Platinum® membership for Premier Gold or Premier Platinum
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum® membership for Premier 1K

It’s important to note how significant this offer is in two ways:

1. On UA, Premier Golds and Platinums get a 50% and 75% mileage bonus, respectively.  With the match to AAdvantage Platinum that bonus is 100%.  That’s double the bonus for Golds and a third more for Platinums.
2. American Airlines very rarely offers a direct match to Executive Platinum.  This should be considered a limited time offer, as it’s not likely to be repeated anytime soon.

If you’re a UA flier you should jump on this.  There’s nothing to lose, and you get to experience what life on the other side of the fence is like without having to start from the bottom.  Take it from me – my UA Premier Platinum will expire this year and I won’t miss it a bit.  Flying American is a night and day difference in terms of service and professionalism, and the benefits of Executive Platinum status are consistently useful for this frequent flyer.

49 points per dollar.  Yes, 49.  On a $139 stay that’s 6,921 points – for one night.  I posted recently about getting 44 points/dollar at a Hampton Inn; this was even better.  The stay was at a Doubletree with a base rate of $139 (plus taxes).  The point breakdown?

Add to this the 9 points/dollar (1,251 points) for the Amex Surpass card and the total is 6,921 points on the stay.  This quarter’s HHonors promo is really working out to be a fantastic deal – enough that given the lack of a Starwood promo right now I’m shifting all my stays to Hilton properties through the end of the month (and depending on Starwood’s promo possibly even through the end of May).

Are you racking up the points with Hilton, or is there another program you’re earning more in?

Tonight I got an unexpected surprise – I got upgraded to First class on my flight home from Detroit!  The flight was Delta 3417  from DTW-AUS and I was on an “L” fare (discount economy), using my Alaska Airlines MVP Gold status in the booking.  I posted about my expectations as I started flying Delta again as an Alaska MVP, and frankly I didn’t expect the upgrade so I wasn’t planning on it.  I actually bought food in the terminal to carry on the plane, assuming I was in coach.  As I boarded, the BP scanner beeped and the agent handed me a new seat assignment… 3D!  Score!

Upgrades are nice.  Unexpected upgrades (even when earned in the parameters of a program) are even nicer!

What’s your experience been as an Alaska MVP on Delta, or as a Delta Medallion on Alaska?

Feet don’t belong on bulkheads.  Especially with your shoes off.  Why do so many people do this?  This is shared space.  It’s carpeted, so it’s going to absorb what’s on your feet.  And you have legroom… especially in first class.  Is this really what you want others to see of you?  The cast one I can almost understand… but that’s a walking cast and this was a very short flight (less than one hour).  Can anyone really justify this behavior?

Starwood’s program changes changed my hotel stay pattern this year, that’s for sure.  The combination of new benefit tiers based on nights in addition to stays has refocused me on my Starwood night accrual – at the cost of Hilton HHonors nights and the associated points.  That’s okay, though, as my Diamond status with Hilton is maintained through credit card spend on the American Express Surpass HHonors card, not through stays, nights or points.

As of today I’m at 20 stays and 33 nights with Starwood.  Through the end of May I’ll have 26 stays and 48 nights, re-qualifying me for Platinum status and putting me two nights away from the first “nights” reward tier at 50 nights.  When I cross that threshold I’ll be awarded 10 Suite Night awards for confirmed Suite upgrades and will be on track for 75 nights, where benefits include an additional Starpoint per dollar spent and Your24, allowing for customizable check-in/check-out times.  At this pace it’s actually possible I could cross 100 nights which would earn a personal Starwood Ambassador – not something I’d think I’d take much advantage of – but the accompanying Starpoints earned on the stays will be well received.

Have you reached your status level this year already in your program?  What benefit matters most to you in your program?

The original purpose of this blog was to document my quest for AAdvantage Executive Platinum status.  In keeping that focus, this post is about my current accruals, projected milestones and confirmation of my earning strategies across programs.

American Airlines AAdvantage:  At the end of April I’ll cross 70,000 EQM/62 segments and at the end of May I’ll cross 80,000 EQM/72 segments on American, leaving 20,000 EQM yet to be flown to re-qualify as Executive Platinum this year.  It’s a toss-up as to whether I’ll cross first on segments or EQM, but my guess would be it will be miles… just based on the travel I’m still likely to do.

Alaska Airlines MVP: At the end of May I’ll have 6,275 miles and 10 segments flown on Delta and credited to Alaska.  The difference between MVP and MVP Gold, especially in terms of benefits on Delta, are significant (essentially the same as Gold Medallion on Delta, with restrictions on when upgrades clear).  To achieve MVP Gold on partner flights I’ll need to credit 50,000 miles or 60 segments to Alaska.  Since most of my Delta segments will connect through MEM (559 miles from AUS) or ATL (813 miles from AUS) that means they’ll be below the average of 834 miles/segment I’d need to qualify on miles (50,000 miles / 60 segments = 834 miles/segment), so I’ll need to credit 50 more segments to Alaska by the end of the year to maintain MVP Gold status.

Airline Summary: After May I need to accrue 20,000 EQM on AA and 50 segments on AS to maintain Executive Platinum and Alaska MVP Gold, respectively.

Plan for the rest of the year: Given my travel patterns, earning the combined additional flights in seven months should be no problem.  I have the following trips tentatively planned already:

• AUS-DFW/LAX-SEA: 4,300 EQM (5,300 if routed through ORD instead)
• AUS-DFW-SFO (at least twice): 4,000 total EQM each round trip (6,850 EQM for any trip flown before June 30th with the DEQM promo)
• AUS-SLC-LAS: 4 segments (booked on Delta, credited to Alaska)

The first two trips above will accumulate at least 12,000 EQM/12 segments on AA, leaving only 8,000 miles remaining (16 500-mile minimum segments).  Most importantly, though, is that after crediting the 20,000 miles needed for EXP re-qualification to AA, the remaining 46 segments needed for MVP Gold status (typically 11.5 round trips based on my travel pattern of 4 segments per round trip) can be flown on any combination of American, Delta or Alaska.  That level of flexibility is nice, especially when fares are significantly different between AA and DL in the southeast.

The trade-off is this: any Delta flights and any American Airlines flights credited to Alaska don’t count towards my American Airlines Million Miler balance (currently just over 700,000 miles), but Alaska MVP Gold elites earn the same 100% bonus on all flights that American Airlines Executive Platinum and Platinum members do – assuming I can make those the 500-mile minimum segments, that’s an “opportunity cost” of 30,000 EQM in total being diverted from American to Alaska and means I’ll need to have earned 130,000 EQM combined this year to maintain both statuses (but will have earned at least 60,000 redeemable miles on Alaska and at least 200,000 on American this year).  More importantly, though, MVP Gold status gives me some form of benefit on Delta – something I can’t get if American is my only program.  Being able to redeem Alaska miles for flights on Alaska, American and Delta doesn’t hurt, either.

Interesting to note: with another 30 segments (7.5 round trips) credited to Alaska I’d qualify for MVP Gold 75K, Alaska’s top tier (equitable to Platinum Medallion on Delta).  I don’t think I’ll achieve that, primarily because I’d have to know for sure I’d achieve it before I’d commit any flights beyond those needed for MVP Gold qualification to Alaska instead of American (and my Million Miler balance), and achieving it would be at least 180 combined segments between the two airlines (4 segments a week for 45 weeks of the year).

Final note: I’ll lose my United Airlines status this year.  After the merger I’m Premier Platinum, earned through a corporate status match to Continental Platinum last year, but I’m flying zero flights on United this year so it’ll be gone for good.  Not that I mind…

What are your status goals?  How are you tracking them?  How are you doing relative to your goals?  What trade-offs have you made between programs and statuses?