Starwood Hotels has two promotions currently available for participating hotels in Europe.  Both promotions offer discounts with nonrefundable rates.  You take a risk booking an expensive nonrefundable hotel stay, but the savings may be worth it.  And you always have the option of trip insurance to recover some of your loss if a cancellation is necessary.

Starwood Promotion 1

New Year Sale – Starwood Hotels promotion link

Special Rate Plan: BOXDAY

Book by 11:59 GMT, Friday, January 9 for stays through March 31, 2009 at participating hotels in Europe and also some hotels in Egypt, Morocco, Gambia, Mauritius, and United Arab Emirates. 

List of Starwood participating hotels.

Has there been a better time to take a trip to London in the past five years?

London, Sheraton Belgravia Hotel, 129GBP New Year promotional rate

The British Pound is worth $1.49 today.  A year ago is was $1.98. Five years ago $1.82.

Starwood Promotion 2

40% off a 4-night stay (C4E); 30% off a 3-night stay (C3E); 20% off a 2-night stay (C2E) for participating hotels in Europe for stays through August 31, 2009. 

Starwood Hotels 2009 Discounts for Europe, C2E, C3E, C4E

The rate plan description has an interesting detail.  You must ask for this discount rate or book it yourself using the code.  From SPG rate details using C4E promotion code:

 

“Rate Plan Description

Restricted Discount Non-Changeable Advance Purchase Rate. Fully Prepaid. Non-Refundable Deposit. Can Only Be Booked When Client Gives Promo Code Or Asks For It.”

This is an interesting condition.  Be sure to ask for it.  SC Flier, the original poster of the FlyerTalk thread for this Starwood Hotels Europe promotion, posted hotel bookings must be made by February 16.  None of the hotels I checked made any reference to a booking deadline.  I am awaiting further information.  The promotion rate details are not exactly the same everywhere. 

Cancellation penalties vary.  The Westin Paris had a one-night cancellation penalty for a stay.  London had a 100% prepayment penalty for the entire stay.  A four night stay could easily set you back $1,000 if you had to cancel.

FlyerTalk’s sc flier also shows a neat tech tip to find participating hotels since there does not appear to be a master promotion web page listing participating properties at this time.

Do google searches using links below to find individual participating hotels:

 

·         site:starwoodhotels.com c2e  (20% off 2 nights)

·         site:starwoodhotels.com c3e  (30% off 3-nights)

·         site:starwoodhotels.com c4e  (40% off 4 nights) 

 

An alternative is to just try the promotion code for a hotel and see if a discount rate shows up.  

To insert the promotion code you need to:

1.  Click on the scroll down window for Rate Preferences/Promotion Codes

2. Select Promotion Code

3. Enter code C2E for 20% off two-night stay; C3E for 30% off three-night stay, or C4E for 40% off four-night stay.

4.  Double check that promotion code used matches the nights selected for your hotel stay.  If you select a three-night stay and use code C4E you will get message stating promotion is not valid for stay.

Click on the picture to enlarge the image and see where promo code is inserted. 

Nights of the week are an important consideration since rates fluctuate most between Friday and Sunday. I found an instance, shown below for Sheraton Belgravia, London, where the nightly rate on a 3-night stay using the 30% discount was lower than the nightly rate using the 40% discount on a 4-night stay.  Try combinations around your stay dates to see if a lower rate is available.

In London, the 40% off rate (149GBP) gave a much better deal for Sheraton Park Tower, a Starwood Luxury-Collection-brand hotel, than the New Year promotion rate ending this week (199GBP).  The Belgravia had a better rate with the New Year promotion rate available through January 9 (129GBP) than the 40% discount rate (GBP149).

Sheraton Park Tower, London, UK – Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel

Hotel link SPG Category 5

2/14-2/16 Sat-Mon,

regular best rate = 209GBP (Endless Weekend with Breakfast)

New Year rate = 199GBP

C2E rate = 167.20GBP

 

2/13-2/16 Fri-Mon,

regular best rate = 219GBP (Endless Weekend with Breakfast)

New Year rate 199 GBP

C3E rate = 146.30GBP/night

 

2/12-2/16 Thur-Mon,

Best available rate = 249GBP 

AAA rate = 224.10GBP

New Year rate = 199GBP

C4E rate = 149.40 GBP

 London, Starwood Hotels C4E rate, Sheraton Park Tower

Sheraton Belgravia Hotel, London

hotel link, SPG Category 5

 

2/16-2/20 Mon-Fri,

            Regular best rate = 249GBP

            New Year Rate = 129GBP  (must book by Jan 9)

            C4E Rate = 149.40GBP

 

 

London Sheraton Belgravia, BOXDAY Special Rate, 129GBP

 

London vacation for 8 nights in two upscale central city Starwood hotels at total cost under $2,000.  These are still premium prices, but at a much lower premium than you would have likely paid over the past several years for these hotels or comparable properties in London.  

 

London hotel sales are frequent.  Hotel rates are fluctuating wildly over the past two months.  It is difficult to predict if the rates available with the Starwood 40% discount promotion will still be a good price for hotel stays in London six months from now. 

There are certainly some good deals to be found and that is welcome news for travelers in Europe over the next eight months.

Tomorrow, January 7, is also the start of the Winter 2009 SPG promotion for 500 points per night and a 5,000 point bonus after 10 nights.  Here is a link to the Loyalty traveler post about this promotion.

 

Starwood Lurker, the Starwood Hotels/SPG corporate representative on FlyerTalk, posted a link yesterday for the initial 2009 Starwood Preferred Guest promotion called Night after Night, and located at SPG.com/nights.  This promotion will award a 500 points per night bonus beginning with hotel nights on January 7 through April 30, 2009.  An additional 5,000 points will be earned for every 10 nights stayed during the promotion period.

 

Promotion:  Night After Night 

SPG promo link

 

Registration is required. 

Registration link will go live on January 7, 2009 5:00pm Eastern time and SPG members have until March 31, 2009 to register. Promotion will apply retroactively for eligible hotel nights during promotion period.

 

Offer:  500 bonus points per night.  Earn an additional 5,000 bonus points for every 10 nights for a combined bonus of 1000 points per night.  In other words, 10 nights earns 10,000 points.

 

Promotion Dates: January 7 – April 30, 2009

 

Terms and Conditions link: http://www.spgpromos.com/nights/tc.cfm

 

Good features of this promotion are hotel stays do not need to be booked in advance to earn the bonus points and promotion registration will apply retroactively to eligible hotel nights.  Any hotel night from January 7 to April 30 qualifies.

 

114 nights = 110 nights + 4 nights = 110,000 points + 2,000 points = 112,000 bonus points possible from the Night After Night promotion.

 

There is no provision in the SPG Nights Terms and Conditions stating this promotion is not combinable with other offers which could justify the promotion statement “There will be no limits on bonus earnings during this period.”  Combinable promotions for the next few months would be a rewarding benefit for SPG members. 

Marriott Rewards has hotel redemption offers exclusively for elite members.  The changes to Marriott Rewards is prompting many elite members with 150,000 points or more to take advantage of high value elite redemptions with regional hotel sampler rewards before the 2009 calendar date change.

Marriott Rewards elite members (Silver, Gold, Platinum) have the option to purchase 7-night multiple hotel stay Sampler rewards called Hawaii Hopper or Europe Hopper for 150,000 points.  These Marriott Rewards hotel redemption certificates are issued as three paper certificates for 2-night, 2-night, and 3-night combination of hotels and are valid for 12-months from issue date for any participating Marriott hotel within the Marriott-defined region of Europe or Hawaii.  There are also Sampler Rewards for Florida and UK/Ireland. 

Marriott Rewards elite members have the opportunity to redeem Europe or Hawaii Hopper awards under the 2008 award rules and benefit from the “No Blackouts” rules changes in effect January 15, 2009.  The Hopper does not require advance reservations and is valid for any Marriott Rewards category of hotel redemption, including the soon to be Category 8 hotels. 

The Marriott Rewards member can order these certificates (Europe Hopper must be ordered by December 31; Hawaii by January 14, 2009) before the 2009 change at the low rate of 21,429 points per night.  2009 per night redemption rates will be 30,000 for a Category 6 hotel; 35,000 points for Category 7; and 40,000 points for Category 8 hotels with a 5^th night free on longer hotel stays.

There are 14 Marriott Hotels listed for the new Category 8 redemption level beginning January 15, 2009.  Nine of these hotels are in Europe (none in Hawaii):

List of Category 8 Hotels: http://www.marriott.com/rewards/lra-faq.mi#question16

Category 8 Hotels in Europe

• Paris Marriott Hotel Champs Elysees
• Renaissance Paris Vendome
• JW Marriott Capri Tiberio Palace Resort & Spa
• Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora
• London Marriott Hotel County Hall
• London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square
• London Marriott Hotel Marble Arch
• London Marriott Hotel Park Lane
• Renaissance Chancery Court London

 

Marriott Rewards Elite:  Europe Hopper 7-Night Reward  

Elite members of Marriott Rewards can redeem 150,000 points for a Europe Hopper 7-night award with three paper certificates issued for 2-, 2-, and 3-night hotel stays at any participating Marriott in Europe.  (Russia and Turkey are not participating hotels for this award.)  The value of this redemption is the savings in Marriott Rewards points for hotels in 2009 by having Europe Hopper certificates once the hotels in London, Paris, and Rome are established in a new redemption Category 8 hotel for 40,000 points per night. 

The Europe Hopper award must be ordered by December 31, 2008 and the award will be valid for 12 months for any European participating hotel, according to posts by Marriott Concierge (Marriott Rewards representative) on FlyerTalk.  Current Category 7 hotels joining the new Category 8 will still be available for new reservations after January 15, 2009, if using the Europe Hopper certificates.  Beginning January 15, when the new Marriott Rewards rules take effect, the cost for a Category 8 hotel night using points will be 40,000 points.  The new 5^th night free option will mean 7 nights at category 8 hotels will cost 240,000 points. 

Redeeming 150,000 points now for 2009 Europe hotel stays can potentially save 90,000 Marriott Rewards points on a trip including Marriott Hotels in London, Paris, or Rome.  Any combination of Category 6, 7, or 8 hotel redemptions using the Europe Hopper certificates will save points compared to the upcoming 2009 redemption changes for standard awards and 5^th night free.

A shout-out to FlyerTalk member GrizShel who put together a detailed FlyerTalk thread to assist Marriott Rewards members with consolidated information from a Marriott Hotels representative and included analysis on the Marriott Rewards changes that will impact members hotel redemptions in 2009.  This thread also contains useful information about redeeming for Marriott Rewards Air and Hotel Packages before January 15, 2009.

 

Credit Card Fast-Track to Marriott Rewards Status

Marriott low level elite starts at Silver based on 10 nights of Marriott hotel brand stays in a calendar year.  The Marriott Rewards Visa Signature credit card gives Silver Elite membership through an annual 10 nights credit towards Marriott Rewards elite status as long as you maintain card membership in good standing.

Hotel Loyalty Program Elite Status

Lots of people don’t focus on hotel loyalty or elite membership.  There are traveler types who will go to a place that is trendy while it is becoming “the trendiest place to be”.   Lodging options from the top resort on the island or the coast, the city apartment in the local neighborhood, the newest happening hotel, or couch swapping are the stories we often read in travel magazines and I hear from my relatives and friends.  

Lodging experiences are great, but I also need high value.  Finding good value experiences is fundamental to my time-rich, job-poor lifestyle as a hotel travel analyst.

A hotel loyalty program focus for elite status is important to me when traveling.  Unfortunately, my hotel loyalty program focus often comes to the exclusion of other interesting and wonderful lodging options. 

Basically the question of whether elite status will be a high value proposition for your travel lifestyle comes down to a numbers game:

• How many hotel nights do you actually need in a year?,

• How much can you afford to spend?, 

• How much do you value paying more to get better lodging?

2009 Hotel Loyalty Program Advice (from this elite Loyalty Traveler)

1.      Estimate Your Hotel Nights for 2009 travel for vacations, visiting family and friends (and really ask yourself do you want to sleep in the children’s bedroom again?), and other leisure days away from home.

 

 

2.      Estimate Your Hotel Nights for 2009 Business. 

a.      Do you have control over choosing the hotel brand where you stay?

 

b.      If not, do you know cities for travel and which hotel brands you will be staying for business

 

c.       If not, then business travel may only be useful for a couple of stays and you will need to focus on discretionary travel if you want elite membership privileges.

 

3.      Add total nights for leisure and business travel

a.      If less than 15 nights in a calendar year – you may not want to concentrate on any single hotel loyalty program. 

Go for the best deals you can find and sign up for hotel loyalty program promotions when they fit your travel plans or fit your travel plans to take advantage of some of the high value promotions.  There are promotions every year allowing a frequent guest to earn $1,000+ in future hotel value when spending an equivalent or lesser amount on hotel stays to fulfill the promotion terms – if you plan for that outcome. 

b.      15 to 30 nights in hotels in a calendar year and you may be a candidate for high elite membership if you focus your hotel stays within a single hotel loyalty program and take advantage of promotional bonuses for even more added value.  Reading Loyalty Traveler is a great way to learn how to reach high elite membership with relatively economical spending.

 

c.      30 nights or more in a calendar year and you may save money by always finding the best deals, however, by concentrating on a single hotel loyalty program and elite status, you should be able to improve your lodging and hotel benefits to receive much higher value for your money by focusing on high elite membership.

 

d.      50 nights or more in a calendar year and you are wasting money or getting less lodging than you could for your money if you don’t receive high elite membership recognition in terms of upgrades and benefits with the majority of your hotel stays.

 

In 2008, Hyatt Hotels Gold Passport and Starwood Hotels Preferred Guest (SPG) ran promotions for earning Double Stay credit for elite membership qualification.  These two hotel loyalty programs both have the same threshold of 25 hotel stays or 50 hotel nights during a calendar year for top-tier elite status: Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond and Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum.

 

A hotel stay is one or more consecutive nights at one hotel, regardless if different reservation numbers. A hotel night is any eligible, paid night at a hotel member in the loyalty program during the calendar year.

 

Guests paying for a 3-night weekend stay at the Hyatt Regency Monterey receive one (1) stay credit and three (3) night credits towards the 25-stay or 50-night Diamond elite membership qualification threshold. 

Guests staying Friday night at the Hyatt Regency Monterey, followed by Saturday night at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands, followed by Sunday night back at the Hyatt Regency Monterey receive three (3) stay credits and three (3) night credits towards the 25-stay or 50-night Diamond elite membership qualification threshold.

 

“Hotel hopping” is a good way to quickly increase your stays and see a variety of hotels.  Of course, changing hotels mid-day is time-consuming and may not always be a viable option on your vacation or business trip.  Personally, I try to make frequent hotel stays when I am not taking a vacation.  Redeeming points for a multi-night vacation stay is the benefit from all the hotel hops planned to earn lots of points for a nice long stay at a vacation hotel.

A guest with no elite membership will receive mid-tier Hyatt Platinum elite membership after 5 stays or 15 nights at Hyatt brand hotels and Starwood Preferred Guest mid-tier Gold membership after 10 stays or 25 nights at Starwood brand hotels.

The high value benefits come with top elite status (Hyatt Diamond or SPG Platinum).  For most travelers not regularly spending 50-plus nights in hotels every year, reaching the top-elite threshold takes a plan.

Reaching top elite Gold Passport Diamond or SPG Platinum required only 13 hotel stays in 2008 for both Hyatt and Starwood during their open enrollment promotions available to all members.  Hyatt’s Double stays was January-March 2008 and Starwood’s is October 1-December 31, but members had to register for Double Stays by November 15, 2008.

My Pacific Northwest trip included six (6) Starwood Hotel stays and I am registered for the Starwood Double Stays promotion through the end of this year.  I earned Hyatt Diamond membership in March during Hyatt Gold Passport’s “Stays Count Double” promotion.  My general rule of thumb is top elite status will provide $100+ in additional benefits for every full service hotel stay.

During the Pacific Northwest trip I received additional benefits at all six hotels as recognition of Starwood Platinum status.

I learned Starwood’s two newest hotel brands, aloft and Element, the new extended stay hotel brand, do not have to offer suite upgrades to SPG platinum elites as a condition of their loyalty program participation agreement.  This was reported in an aloft hotel suite thread on FlyerTalk by Starwood Lurker, Starwood Hotels’ representative on FlyerTalk. My two stays at aloft hotels earned 250 points each as a Platinum member amenity.  There were no other special benefits at the aloft Portland.

The Nines Portland provided complimentary lounge access, a privilege that comes with a $200+ price tag to purchase with your reservation at the hotel.  I did not receive a room upgrade.

Sheraton Wall Centre, Vancouver upgraded my room to a full suite, provided complimentary wireless internet access, lounge access with breakfast and an evening social (alcohol not complimentary), and all-day access to sodas and juice.

Westin Bayshore, Vancouver upgraded my room to a full suite.

The Westin Grand, Vancouver is an all-suites hotel.  I did not see any additional benefits for the Westin Grand aside from the 500 Starpoints Platinum amenity gift.

Added value from Platinum elite membership for six hotel stays included two room upgrades to a suite ($200 value); two hotels with lounge access and complimentary food and drinks ($150 value), and 2,500 bonus Starpoints for Platinum Welcome amenity gifts ($87 value), in addition to the 800 elite bonus points on top of base points ($28 value).

Added value due to platinum elite status with Starwood Preferred Guest = $465 for six stays.

·          

The hotel industry forecast is looking rather gloomy in most of the industry research articles I’ve read since returning home.  Expect 2009 to be loaded with loyalty program incentives and some great discounts.  I think Hyatt and Starwood will continue Double Stays for fast-track elite qualification in early 2009. 

@LoyaltyTraveler ‘Halfway through this post I get to Hotel Traveler 2020 – please read entire message’

This past weekend I spent time at the Las Vegas Convention Center with a few thousand bloggers from around the USA and the globe convening for BlogWorld08.  What an eye-opener to the future of social media and mass communication! 

Have you “tweeted” someone today? 

If you are over the age of 40 you probably have no idea what that means.  Go ask someone under 30 to tell you about the social networking tool, Twitter, or brush up on your Wikipedia knowledge here because Dictionary.com doesn’t yet state this new “verb” meaning in its definition list for tweet.

Read Oliver Mark’s story, “Apple Founder Steve Wozniak Interview, Answers Your Tweeted Questions,” and you will get an idea of how most of the dialogue at the BlogWorld08 workshops was generated between workshop panelists and the audience sitting in the room.

In a workshop I attended Sunday one woman made the comment – speaking into the microphone from the stand in the center room aisle – she felt she was one of only three people who hadn’t “tweeted” during the conference. 

I was # 2 on that list.

@LoyaltyTraveler ‘Mike Shinoda is sitting behind me at the Blogger Credibility workshop.  Cool’

What does all this social media have to do with hotels and the Hotel Traveler in 2020?

Jitendra Jain, Starwood Hotels e-commerce manager in Dubai, has an interesting article in HotelMarketing.com – “Back to the Future: Meet the Hotel Guest of 2020” – on the role of the hotel guest in the ‘Hospitality Renaissance” of the coming decade.

“My stay. My choice.”

Yesterday I posted about Homewood Suites web technology allowing the guest to pre-select a hotel room prior to arrival.  Wouldn’t it be great to have the ability to pick your own hotel room like we can with airline seats?

“I stay. I sell.”

I also posted yesterday about a FlyerTalk thread discussion containing a list of the ‘Best Hilton Hotels in Europe’ and then went off on a tangent about Dresden, Germany.  Perhaps some day someone will make a decision to go to Dresden or read a Kurt Vonnegut book based on my post.  Social networks are influential in helping us decide what to do with our lives.  We are interconnected, but in a fragmented way. 

Corporate marketers are realizing the influential nature of social networking and looking for ways to monetize the medium.  I’m looking for ways to monetize myself.  The two objectives are not necessarily at odds with each other. 

I am a consumer advocate for getting value for the money you spend on hotel travel.  My experience has shown me hotel loyalty programs add value to hotel stays.  160,000 members on FlyerTalk convinces me there are many others who also find value in travel loyalty programs.

As JJ describes the Hotel Traveler 2020, “Why should I trust all the hype, marketing and advertising when I have perfectly good friends & like-minded acquaintances who’ve been there, done that?”

The same e-newsletter of HotelMarketing.com has this Hyatt Place article, “Creating the ideal hotel for today’s plugged-in traveler“.  The piece reads like corporate marketing.  Alison Kal, VP of Hyatt Hotels states, “We developed a comprehensive understanding of the mindset and habits of contemporary travelers and used that knowledge to create an experience that fosters guests’ satisfaction.”

Makes me want to go to a Hyatt Place tonight.

Seriously though, I really like Hyatt Place hotels.   My first stay at a Hyatt Place hotel had the consequential effect of winning free tickets to see Bruce Springsteen.  Amenities like a 42-inch flat screen TV that actually has HDTV service (at least in Fremont, CA), a large couch, a work desk, free internet access at a hotel computer station or free wireless throughout the hotel, and a lobby cafe for sandwiches and packaged food for a traveler who is running out of the hotel to the airport at the last minute.  These hotel features work for me.

Many of the 115 hotels in the USA have room rates under $75 all-in which makes Hyatt Place an incredible deal for earning Faster Free Nights over the next few months.

@ LoyaltyTraveler ‘I stay. I sell.’

 

 

 

Starwood Preferred Guest – “You Choose” Fall 2008 promotion

Starwood Preferred Guest yesterday unveiled their SPG 4^th quarter promotion, “You Choose”, with plenty of fan-fare and some complaints among the FlyerTalk crowd.   Bottom line:  The promotion has competitive value for the end-of-year offerings among the major hotel loyalty programs. 

SPG Promotional Offer:  There are 12 offer choices and the SPG member has until November 15, 2008 to register for a promotional offer.  Offer choices are outlined below in this post.

Note: All stays/nights within the promotion dates will apply retroactively towards the SPG offer choice selected, except for the “Double Stays” or “Double Nights” offer requires the SPG member to register and select Double Stays or Double Nights for this option to take effect.  No retroactive credit for Double Stays/Nights before registration. 

Promotion Dates:  Stays and nights from October 1 – December 31 are eligible for promotion.

Choose Your SPG Offer Carefully: Once you select your choice of the 12 offers, there is no changing your mind.  Unless you plan to choose Double Stays and Nights, there is no reason to make your decision right away, as all other options will apply retroactively to October 1 stays and nights as long as you register by November 15, 2008.   

SPG actually has recommendations for promotion choices based on your anticipated stay pattern for the final quarter of 2008.

SPG Promotion 12 Offer Choices:

1.      Elite Status – Double all eligible nights and stays.  SPG elite status normally requires 10 stays or 16 nights for Gold elite membership.  Platinum elite membership takes 25 stays or 50 nights. 

Loyalty Traveler analysis: Double stays and nights reduces the elite qualification for Gold membership to 5 stays or 8 nights.  Platinum elite will take 13 stays or 25 nights.  A member who can reach gold or platinum elite status will hold that membership level through February 2010. 

 

Platinum elite benefits include regular upgrades worth $50 to $100+ per night when staying at most hotels.  Platinum elite members can receive 500 points per stay as a platinum amenity gift with each hotel stay (250 points for Four Points stays).  Platinum elite members have no minimum transfer requirement for Starpoints to airline miles. (It is a nice feature to be able to transfer 10 Starpoints into an airline frequent flier account to extend the expiration date for miles in airline programs with no activity.  Gold members have 1,500 points transfer minimum and non-elites have a 2,500 points transfer minimum.) 

 

2.      Free Weekend Night – two choices for earning a free weekend night at any Category 1-5 hotel.  A category 5 hotel in peak season is a 16,000 point value.

a.      Four stays earns a free weekend night  (limit of two free weekend nights after 8 stays)

b.      Eight nights earns a free weekend night (limit of two free weekend nights after 16 nights)

Loyalty Traveler analysis:  These options potentially have the biggest return for the least investment.  Four stays can be earned for as little as $300 in some locations and there are some Category 5 hotels with $400/night minimum rates.  The drawback is the limit of two free nights for this promotion.  As an SPG platinum member I like this choice because I will probably receive a $200+/night complimentary upgrade on the free stay. Eight stays will provide an equivalent of 24,000 Starpoints for two free weekend nights at a Category 5 Starwood hotel.  Keep in mind though that Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights offers a free night with every two stays during this same promotional period.  Also, the offer of 25,000 points for 10 stays awards points which have much greater flexibility in use.  A Category 5 hotel on a Cash & Points award only costs 4,800 points and $90 per night. 

Free weekend nights choices are all about the redemption option you think you can use.  An advantage of the SPG free nights offer is the redemption period is through April 30, 2009 whereas Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights must be redeemed by February 28, 2009.

 

3.      Bonus Starpoint Offers (7 choices)

a.      Earn 2,000 bonus Starpoints with every two (2) stays. Maximum of 10,000 bonus Starpoints with 10 stays.

b.      Earn 2,000 bonus Starpoints with every four (4) nights. Maximum of 10,000 bonus Starpoints with 20 nights.

 

Loyalty Traveler analysis: These offers are geared for the person who does not want or need elite status and who has limited stays/nights planned for the rest of 2008.  Choose nights if you plan a multi-night trip.  If you are looking at maxing out this offer, then consider going for the higher threshold offers with 6 stays or 12 nights to earn more points.

 

c.       Earn 9,000 bonus Starpoints with every six (6) stays. Maximum of 36,000 bonus Starpoints with 24 stays.

d.      Earn 9,000 bonus Starpoints with every twelve (12) nights. Maximum of 36,000 bonus Starpoints with 48 nights.

 

Loyalty Traveler analysis: These two offers favor the frequent guest who can reach 6 stays or 12 nights, but is confident that travel will not allow 10 stays or 20 nights during the promotion.  A travel plan for 10 stays or 20 nights will earn substantially more points with the 25,000 bonus point offers below.  A mattress run to cover the difference between 6 stays and 10 stays will earn an additional 16,000 points for just four more stays.  That is a bonus worth earning if you can plan your travel for it.

 

e.      25,000 bonus Starpoints with every ten (10) stays. Maximum of 100,000 bonus Starpoints with 40 stays.

f.        Earn 25,000 bonus Starpoints with every twenty (20) nights. Maximum of 100,000 bonus Starpoints with 80 nights.

 

Loyalty Traveler analysis: These two offers favor the frequent guest who plans to be spending substantial time in Starwood hotels over the next three months.    Considering it would take 80 of 92 nights of the promotion in Starwood Hotels to max out at 100,000 points for the nights offer is quite a hurdle and takes a true SPG loyalty traveler.  2,500 bonus points per stay or 1,250 bonus points per night are good rebates in Starpoints on your paid stays.

 

Assume $150/night on one-night stays as a platinum elite.  The SPG member could earn 450 Starpoints + 500 platinum amenity + 2,500 points/stay = 3,450 Starpoints with a purchase value equivalent of $120.75.  Even more points with an SPG Amex card payment.  This is essentially a rebate of 70 to 80% of the room cost if averaging $150/night rooms.  Drop the average room rate to $100/night for your paid stays and the points earned are worth about the same amount as the room rate paid.

 

Maximizing promotional value: Assume no current status with SPG and a frequent guest completes 30 one-night stays at $90/night average room rate and 10% tax. 

10 stays = 1,800 base points (10 nights x $90/night) + 25,000 points = 26,800 Starpoints

Gold elite status earned after 10 stays and earn 50% elite bonus Starpoints.

20 stays = 1,800 base points + 900 elite bonus + 25,000 points = 27, 700 Starpoints

30 stays = 1,800 base points + 900 elite bonus + 2,500 platinum amenity (for stays 26-30) + 25,000 Q4 bonus points = 30,200 points.

 

Summary:  30 stays costing $3,000 earns platinum elite status through February 2010 and 84,700 Starpoints ($2,964.50 cash purchase value since SPG sells Starpoints for $35/1,000.)  84,700 Starpoints are sufficient for a 5^th night free hotel stay at a Category 6 hotel such as the Westin Paris, April 20-25, 2009 with the current minimum room rate at 410€/night.  The value of this 5-night stay would be $2,901USD and as a platinum member the likely room upgrade would increase the value of your free stay on points.

 

This example shows that the Q4 promotional offer provides a way for the frequent guest new to Starwood to earn loads of Starpoints while earning high elite status.

 

4.      Double Starpoints with no earning limits

Loyalty Traveler analysis:  This is the choice for the SPG high-spender member who already has or doesn’t need status.  Since only base points (2 points/$1) are doubled, this offer favors the SPG member spending loads of cash.  10 stays can earn 25,000 points and 2 stays can earn 2,000 points with other choices in this promotion, so this offer is good for the person who may be paying $500/night for a hotel stay.  Assume $6,000 spent for a 12-night stay would only earn 9,000 bonus Starpoints (12 nights offer) or 6,000 Starpoints (2,000 points per 4 nights offer) with other promotional choices.   Double points on $6,000 spending earns 12,000 bonus points and may be the best option for some. 

Imagine you are a real high-roller and plan to spend $50,000 at Starwood Hotels, then this option is your route to 100,000 bonus Starpoints with far fewer than 40 stays or 80 nights.  As I recall, Starwood had a couple of properties on the $3,000+/night suites in a hotel survey I saw last month.

 

5.      $25 Amazon Gift Cards

a.      $25 Amazon gift card for every two (2) stays up to ten (10) stays for five gift cards.

b.      $25 Amazon gift card for every four (4) nights up to twenty (20) nights for five gift cards ($125).

Loyalty Traveler analysis: Poor value in my opinion.  Take a 2,000 Starpoints offer instead.

Loyalty Traveler Review of Hotel News

Here are some of the interesting articles and reports I read this past week.

#1: Hotel Internet Security – Guess who is looking at your files!

The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University has published a study of internet security practices for hotel guests accessing internet connections in the USA. 

The CHR report findings are not comforting for hotel guests. 

“We concluded that hotels in the U.S. are generally ill-prepared to protect their guests from network security issues.” 

The report, “Hotel Network Security: A Study of the Computer Networks in U.S. Hotels” by Josh Ogle, Erica Wagner, Ph.D., and Mark Talbert is available for free download from the Center for Hospitality Research (registration required).  http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2008.html

 

#2: Hotel Loyalty Programs Category Shift story from December 2006

This is an older story from December 2006, “Hotel Loyalty Programs Undergo Point Value Changes” on creditcards.com, however, the background overview of the shift in hotel category and points required for free night hotel room redemption with Hilton HHonors and Starwood Preferred Guest is a good reminder that hotel programs made dramatic adjustments upward when hotel travel was booming these past two years.  There continued to be substantial shifts upward in 2007 and 2008. 

I am interested to see how US hotels shift in redemption category for 2009 as the average daily rates for hotels in USA are currently at a substantially lower price level than any other region around the globe.  A downward adjustment is in order based on the numbers for average daily room rates at US hotels.

Will hotels in the USA see a major shift downward in category redemption levels? 

See my post last week to read more about category shift and global hotel rates, “Hotel Travel Going Down, Down, Down.  It’s the Economy, Stupid!”

 

#3: American Express leads in “credit card satisfaction” J.D. Power survey

This article about the 2008 JD Power survey on credit card satisfaction supports my post on hotel loyalty program affinity credit cards and the value of American Express over VISA and MasterCard.  My independent analysis last month, “Comparison of Hotel Loyalty Program Affinity Credit Cards,” showed the earning power of Hilton HHonors AmEx and Starwood Preferred Guest AmEx made these two cards the best value for hotel loyalty program affinity credit cards.

Link to J.D. Power 2008 Survey on Credit Card Satisfaction

 

#4: Airline and Hotel Social Networks – I know someone that knows someone who knows you.

Ron Callari discusses a European study that suggests the internet has shrunk our global affiliations from six degrees of separation down to three.  The travel industry is trying to take some control over the proliferation of social networking through its own internal hotel and airline social forums.  Somehow, I think FlyerTalk is still going to dominate for years to come.

 

#5: Hyatt Gainey Ranch, Scottsdale, Arizona offering 5,000 points for 3-night stay

Last April I spent time at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch and I absolutely loved their swimming pools.  The hotel is open air, green grass, colorful flowers, cacti, and swimming pools against a lake backdrop.  The remodeled rooms looked very similar to the San Francisco Hyatt Regency remodeled rooms and bathroom design.  Glass door showers instead of tubs.  This is the Hyatt property to stay at in the Phoenix area. 

Hyatt Promotion offer code is Scot5K for the 5,000 point bonus on a 3-night or longer stay through December 31, 2008.  Link to offer here.

 

#6: Hawaii Hotel Occupancy Still Dropping; Rates Slow to Drop

Hawaii continues to see a decline in hotel travel due to airline flight cuts and high airfares.  Supposedly there are great deals to be had if you look.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/09/08/daily27.html

 

 

#7: Frequent travelers book directly with suppliers while infrequent travelers tend to use online travel agencies (OTA) like Expedia.com

Glenn Hausmann, editor-in-chief of Hotel Interactive has a good read on the battle between hotel companies and online travel agencies for consumers in the online world.

 

 

Starwood Points Earning Power in Real Travel

One of the primary difficulties in hotel loyalty program-to-program comparisons is the inability to accurately predict the earning power of real hotel travel due to variability of hotel program special offer bonuses for the frequent guest.

Most comparisons simply calculate points earned based on a fixed dollar amount of hotel spending, and adding applicable elite bonuses for the projected number of hotel nights and stays.  (See InsideFlyer’s hotel loyalty program comparison from June 2008).

The problem with this method is that it does not reflect the real earning power of points for real hotel stay travel.  Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) generally comes out at or near the bottom in a simple analysis of base point earnings for hotel stays when comparing loyalty programs. 

I have been SPG Platinum (qualification is 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year) for six years.  During that time frame, I estimate more than 80% of all my hotel points earned from hotel stays were bonus points on top of points earned from base spending.  That means if I earned 9,000 points from hotel stays through base spending ($3,000 in eligible hotel spending at 3 points/$1 for Gold or Platinum elite members), I estimate that I earned an additional 35,000 points or so from SPG bonuses and platinum-elite amenity gifts (500 points per stay, except 250 points/stay at Four Points brand hotels). 

Base Spending is Not Sufficient in an Analysis for Hotel Loyalty Program Comparisons

Most hotel program comparisons only count Starpoints earning power at 2 or 3 points per $1 of hotel spending.  (I even did this in my last post when I compared Wyndham Rewards to SPG for hotel-points-to-airline-miles transfers which spurred my incentive to write this piece today.)  My actual experience over the past several years shows my Starpoint earnings to be more in the range of 10 to 15 points per $1.00 in hotel spending.  (American Express Starwood credit card is not being considered in this analysis).

For example, Starwood had a promotion at the Westin Market Street San Francisco for 5,000 bonus points on a 2-night weekend stay this summer.  Rates were $179 for several weekends in August.  (This promotion expired August 31, 2008).  Base spending in this example is quite small as a proportion of total Starpoints earned for a 2-night stay.

SPG non-elites earn 2 points/$1.  Two nights at $179/night = $358 in eligible spending. 

$358 x 2 = 716 Starpoints earned based on hotel spending. 

5,000 points earned through SPG bonus. 

Of the 5,716 points earned for the 2-night stay, only 13% of the Starpoints earned were from the $358 in hotel base spending.  This example illustrates the problem with making hotel loyalty program comparisons solely using base spending as the points earning criteria for the guest.

Starwood Platinum-elite guest using example above for Westin San Francisco Market Street would potentially earn $358 x 3 = 1,074 points for base spending; 500 points platinum amenity gift; and 5,000 points for weekend stay bonus = 6,574 points and still only 16% of Starpoints earned are from base spending.

Priority Club Rewards is usually calculated at 10 points/$1.00 in hotel base spending.  FlyerTalk members routinely state combined promotional bonuses for hotel stay spending push actual earning ability as high as 30 points/$1.00 and I have seen claims of individuals earning nearly 50 points/$1.  This is far above the 15 points/$1 usually used as the earning power of a Priority Club Platinum member (50 nights/year).

Real Travel Comparison of Points Earning in Starwood Preferred Guest

Current promotions:

1.      FlyerTalk 500 points per night for hotel stays in September (combinable with other promotions)

2.      North America 1,000 points per stay during weeknights (Sunday-Thursday); Four Points stays earn 500 bonus points.

San Rafael Four Points 3-night stay from Tuesday September 9 to Friday September 12

$109/night

Non-elite member Base Earning = $109 x 3 nights x 2 Starpoints/$1 = 654 Starpoints for stay.

Plus Bonus #1: 500 Starpoints/night FlyerTalk bonus = 1,500 Starpoints

Plus Bonus #2: 500 Starpoints for weeknight stay at a Four Points = 500 Starpoints

 

2,654 Starpoints earned for this stay and 75% of Starpoints earned are from bonuses and not points from hotel spending.  A platinum elite would receive an additional 250 points as a platinum amenity gift and 327 additional elite bonus points for 3,231 Starpoints.  Only 30% of the Starpoints earned would be from spending based on the hotel rate, yet comparisons of hotel loyalty programs generally only consider hotel spending.

 

Hyatt Gold Passport standard points earning is 5 points/$1 in base hotel spending.  Hyatt also has numerous hotel specific bonuses which can greatly increase member earning power.  See my post on Hyatt “G” Bonuses.  And as a Hyatt Diamond member, a guest can receive a 1,000 points diamond amenity bonus at many Hyatt hotels. Hyatt Platinum elites earn a Platinum Extras certificate after every three stays for additional bonus points opportunities and other benefits.  (The Hyatt website is down as I am writing this so I can’t show a hotel stay example as I had planned.)

In the final analysis of hotel loyalty program comparisons, the points earning is determined by the member’s diligence in looking for promotions, registering for promotions, and booking through the specific links to get the best applicable offers for each hotel stay. 

Loyalty Traveler tip:  After an initial search of hotel rates for your destination, check the actual hotel property’s webpage and look for the special offers link to see if there are better rates or bonus point offers.  PointMaven.com also performs this special offer search task, however, I find it easier to just check the websites of specific hotel properties most of the time.

Traveling with a hotel loyalty plan can mean the difference between earning a free hotel stay after a few hundred dollars in actual hotel spending vs. earning a free hotel stay after thousands of dollars in spending. 

Loyalty Traveler is geared to the frequent guest who wants to know how to get more value from your hotel spending and will take the time to find a better deal.

 

Today I want to comment on a number of articles I have seen over the past week.

#1  - Does a guest on a stay using points pay resort fees?

Last week a FlyerTalker raised this question on the Starwood Hotels forum.

The general reply was Yes, the guest does pay the “resort fee” when staying at a resort hotel on points.  I found this to be the case with a $20 “resort fee” when I stayed at the Westin Mission Hills Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area) in April on a Cash & Points rate.  Here is my trip post about the Westin Mission Hills hotel in April 2008.  Fortunately, most hotels do not have add-on “resort fees”.

 

#2 – Food & Beverage Pricing Tricks

This article gives hotels tips on how to trick the consumer into thinking the price has better value.

As a former mathematics content editor for state-level student assessments I find “Confusion Pricing” an interesting trick.  If not many people can work out the nightly cost of  a hotel room that is priced at $545 per week, then the hotel industry has little to fear from my blog that focuses on showing loyalty program value through simple math.

 

#3 – Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya has opened and is Russia’s first Hilton.  The 28-story historic Stalinist neoclassical skyscraper underwent a two year $100 million dollar renovation.  A sample rate check for October 16, 2008 showed the lowest available rate of $548.52 + $98.73 tax for a grand total of $647.25 for a twin deluxe room.  No blackouts for awards with a Category 5 free night at 35,000 points makes for a much better value using points.  A six-night GLON2 award for 150,000 points would have almost a $4,000 value.  Now that is Points Power!

 Hilton has big development plans for Russia with as many as 70 properties scheduled to open over the next decade.

 

#4 – Beijing Olympics Hotel Rates were triple the regular average rates according to STR Global.  The average daily rate for hotel rooms across Beijing was $446 during the Olympics.  Some of the Olympic sporting venues looked rather sparse in spectators on the TV, however, with hotel occupancy hovering around 80 to 90% city-wide there was probably quite a bit of spectator action in hotel lobbies.  While Beijing was hopping with activity, the hotels in Hong Kong, host of Olympic equestrian, and Qingdao, the site of sailing competition experienced a decline in average hotel occupancy for the Olympics.

By the Tuesday after the games closed, hotel occupancy had dropped to less than 35% and room rates also dropped dramatically by 60%.

 

#5 – Resort Hotels Across the USA Lower Average Rates in 2008 according to Smith Research and this article from the Wall Street Journal.  Resort occupancy declines in the 6% to 10% range being felt across the country and some hotels see no alternative but to lower rates.  (But, remember those resort fees!)

#6 – Switching Hotel Rooms: Legitimate Request or System Scamming?

This New York Times article looks into people who check into a hotel and then seek a different room.  And the article states women are more likely to request a room change.

My record is for the Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam, a Starwood property.  I think I made two room change requests before the hotel gave me a room that I felt was worth my money paid.  I have felt compelled to request room changes for the Pulitzer on at least three stays.  Amsterdam is just too pretty to be in an interior facing room.

The number one benefit of elite status in a hotel loyalty program is the high probability of getting a room with a preferred view for the hotel site.

Hyatt 25% Rate Discount Special Offer- Book by August 26

Book by August 26 and save 25% at participating Hyatt Hotels for stays between August 28 and October 1, 2008. 

Terms:

·         Offer valid at participating hotels in USA, Canada, and the Caribbean.  Hyatt has made it easy to find the offer as participating hotels are individually listed by destination.         List of participating hotels

·         Nonrefundable room prepayment required

·         25% savings is based on prevailing rate/best available rate.

·         Offer not valid at Andaz or Park Hyatt hotels.

·        Reservations must be made at Hyatt.com or by calling 1-800-233-1234 and requesting offer code LT0105 

The rumor on FlyerTalk reported last week is Hyatt Gold Passport’s Faster Free Nights (FFN) periodic promotion will begin September 1 and last through December 30, 2008 when every two Hyatt stays earns a certificate for one free night at any Hyatt location globally.  Free nights may be redeemed between September 15, 2008 and February 28, 2009.  This offer has not officially been released to the public, but several FlyerTalkers state the terms have been revealed to them by Hyatt personnel.  Faster Free Nights is one of the highest potential value hotel loyalty promotions offered.

Since the 25% offer is nonrefundable and terms state the special offer rate is not combinable with other promotions, the Hyatt traveler needs to decide if a discount rate for a prepaid stay is a better value than the potential for earning free night credit for stays from September 1-30 if you wait for the Faster Free Nights promotion to be officially launched.