Loyalty Traveler » SPG

SPG plays coy with Nice Choice promotion

Ric Garrido — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:53:22 +0000

Starwood announced on FlyerTalk Monday, April 9 that its new promotion is “Nice Choice” and registration will open May 1 at spg.com/nicechoice. All hotels worldwide will be participating.

That is all the information that was released. The announcement suggests members follow Twitter or Facebook for more details to come.

The omission in the announcement though is there are no links provided to show readers where the Twitter and Facebook feeds are located!

FlyerTalk Next SPG 2012 Promotion.

The secret is you have to click on the signature line of Starwood Lurker “Stay Connected with SPG” and you will find the specific Facebook and Twitter feeds for SPG.

https://www.facebook.com/SPG

https://twitter.com/#!/SPGInsider

Four days after announcing member registration for a new SPG promotion will be available on May 1, the second set of details emerged on Friday, April 13 to tell us members we can choose from 3 earning periods for this promotion.

May-July
June-August
July-September

Is being coy on social media a nice choice for rolling out a new hotel loyalty promotion?

I understand how this type of campaign helps bring people to the SPG social media sites and the power that has to get information directly to consumers in the future, but I keep thinking of the article by Tim Winship of FrequentFlier.com:

When Should Hotels Announce Upcoming Promotions? (Feb 6, 2012) – Tim Winship.

Tim Winship is one of the original loyalty program experts working in social media since the 90s. He co-authored the book Mileage Pro: The Insider’s Guide to Mileage Programs with Randy Petersen, published in 2005.

After Hyatt Gold Passport announced its current promotion, 16 nights for 44,000 points, at the OneWorld MegaDo event in January, the promotion was publicized by The Points Guy and several BoardingArea bloggers. But when Tim Winship tried to get the promotion details from Hyatt’s PR contact, he was told the information was embargoed until February 1, the date the Hyatt Gold Passport promotion started.

May 1, 2012 is 17 days away.

I know there will be a SPG promotion starting in May or maybe I’ll choose a start date in June or July.

Hard to plan out my travels with SPG when I don’t have an official clue what will be offered as SPG choices for the months of May to September.

Make “nice choices” is something I expect to hear my wife say to her 1st graders when they socialize with each other.

A “nice choice” for my hotel loyalty program, in my opinion, is just give me complete hotel loyalty promotion details in a timely manner prior to the start date for the promotion so I, as a loyalty member and travel consumer, can plan our hotel travel in a timely manner.

That is the “nice choice” I would like to have from SPG.

Starwood Hotels – 2011 brand size and rates

Ric Garrido — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:53:23 +0000

Starwood Hotels released its 2011 Q-4 financial report for investors February 2. My interest is seeing the number of hotels in each Starwood brand and the average rates globally. Starwood Hotels has grown to 1,090 hotels worldwide.

Aloft brand has the lowest average rates at just over $100 and Four Points hotels are slightly more at $114 average daily rate.

Sheraton still squeaks in at under $150 ADR as a hotel brand. Westin and Le Meridien still come in under $200 per night.

W Hotels, Luxury Collection and St. Regis are in the $300 range.

The hotels in the lowest priced brands of Four Points and Aloft are concentrated in the USA making North America average room rates lower than other regions. Latin America has seen the highest rate increase of almost 10%.

Europe had no rate growth in 2011 and this is primarily due to the stronger US dollar in the region. This is good news for American travelers since Starwood Hotels in Europe already had the highest average daily rates at over $200 per night.

Westin Charlotte Facebook 250 points sign-up bonus: act fast!

Ric Garrido — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:37:26 +0000

Westin Charlotte Facebook wall posted an offer for 250 Starpoints by signing up for Charlotte Insider eClub by February 1.

This offer is listed on the Westin Charlotte Facebook wall. There is no place to insert your SPG number when signing up for the Westin Charlotte Insiders email list. Westin Charlotte states SPG members will be contacted for their SPG membership number February 1 and 250 points will be awarded by March 1.

The Westin Charlotte Good question! We will be sending out an email to request everyone’s SPG number on February 1st at the end of the contest. Thank you for being a fan of The Westin Charlotte on facebook!

DealsWeLike posted this last night and One Mile at a Time picked up the offer too. Sign up fast since this offer may get pulled early once they realize on Monday morning that BoardingArea readers have created 8,000 new email subscribers and the hotel needs to pay out 2,000,000 points.

SPG Q-1 2012 Better by the Night only rewards longer stays

Ric Garrido — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:18:21 +0000

Starwood Preferred Guest launches its “Better by the Night” 2012-Q1 promotion on January 9 with double points for two night stays and triple points for longer stays through April 8, 2012. There are no bonus points for one night stays. There is no limit to bonus points members may earn with this offer.

Registration is required by March 15, 2012.

Loyalty Traveler Update Dec 29, 2011 9:45am Pacific time: SPG is screwing around with this promotion since it first appeared five days ago. The links were all working this morning when I posted this article and the links are now all dead. This has happened before during the last few days and I thought SPG finally had their promotion ducks all in a row when I decided to post this offer today. I registered for the offer today. SPG apparently is still not ready for members to see this offer as posted in this FlyerTalk thread December 27 by Starwood Lurker, the official SPG voice. Seems odd to me that all the promotion pages were up this morning two days after Starwood Lurker’s post, however, the links may not be live again until January 9, 2012.

Registration confirmation page for SPG 2012 Q-1 promotion.

This promotion is valid for about 70% of Starwood Hotels worldwide with all Asia-Pacific hotels opting out of this offer. About 50 hotels in the USA are not participating, so check the hotel exclusion list carefully when planning your stays so you are not surprised when your $1,000 3-night stay does not earn an anticipated 4,000 extra bonus points with the triple points offer. Germany, Italy and Greece have many nonparticipating Starwood Hotels. Link to hotels excluded from this offer.

All in all I am not that impressed by this offer. Spending $1,000 and only earning 4,000 bonus points is not appealing to me when I can get two free nights with Marriott Rewards after four stays or 10,000+ points on a cheap two-night weekend stay with Hilton HHonors. Spend based bonuses like this SPG offer leave minimal opportunity to leverage cheap stays into free nights like the Hilton and Marriott offers for Q1-2012.

SPG has a good offer for free weekend nights at Asia Pacific resorts with Two Days of Happy running through March 15, 2012. This SPG promotion earns one free night after five nights and two free nights after 9 nights when paying with MasterCard. There are over 200 hotels for earning free nights and nearly 90 resorts for redeeming free weekend nights by April 10, 2012. Nights do not need to be consecutive nights at the hotels. Five one-night stays at participating Starwood hotels will earn one free weekend night.

Fine Print Nuances for this Offer

Starwood’s FAQ for this promotion has an interesting term regarding a stay that includes a reward night on points or Cash & Points night combined with paid nights.

If part of my stay has an Award Night or a night using Cash & Points, will my stay qualify?

No.
Free Night Awards and Cash & Points are not Starpoints-eligible rates. Even if part of the stay is Award and part is paid, the member will not receive bonus credits for any part of the stay.

So you do not want to include a reward night within a paid consecutive nights stay at a Starwood Hotel. For example I read this as meaning if you booked a 5th night free reward from Sunday-Thursday followed by two paid nights on Friday and Saturday, then you will not receive double points for the Friday and Saturday night stay since these paid nights are part of the same stay as the 5th night free reward.

Other fine print:

Bonus points will be earned for a Starwood Hotel stay started before January 9 if guest checks out after January 9. Double or triple points will be earned for entire stay. The same principle applies for stays having arrival date before April 8 and check-out after April 8. Double or triple points will apply to entire stay.
Members who register by March 15, 2012 will receive retroactive credit for all eligible stays during the promotion period completed prior to registration.
Members may receive double or triple points for up to two rooms as long as SPG member is one of the guests.
Third night free and other extended stay rate discounts count all nights for this promotion according to Starwood Lurker on FlyerTalk since revenue is divided up between all nights.

Calculating Double and Triple Starpoints

SPG members earn 2 Starpoints per US$1 as the base rate for earning Starpoints.
SPG Gold and Platinum elite members earn 1 bonus Starpoint per $1.
Double Starpoints = 4 points per US$1 total earning rate.
Triple Starpoints = 6 points per $1 total earning rate.
Elite member bonus is one additional point per $1 on top of the 2x/3x rate.
SPG American Express cardmembers earn an additional 2 bonus points per US$1 if Starwood Hotel stay is paid using SPG AmEx card.

Excluded Hotels for SPG Better by the Night promotion

(Once again there are no city/state identifiers for hotels. As if it isn’t bad enough to have a large list of excluded hotels for a hotel loyalty promotion, the hotel loyalty programs expect SPG members to know the hotels by name and deduce the geographic location on your own!)

UNITED STATES

Aloft Charlotte Ballantyne
Aloft Frisco
Aloft Las Colinas
Aloft Milwaukee Downtown
Aloft Phoenix-Airport
Aloft Plano
Cove Haven Resort
Four Points by Sheraton Destin Fort Walton Beach
Four Points by Sheraton Charlotte-Pineville
Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway (Starwood has co-opted Canada into the USA!)
Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton West (Starwood has co-opted Canada into the USA!)
Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville Beach
Four Points by Sheraton Louisville Airport
Four Points by Sheraton Newark
Four Points by Sheraton Punta Gorda Harborside
Four Points by Sheraton Tallahassee Downtown
Four Points by Sheraton Norwalk
Four Points by Sheraton San Jose
Lakeside Terrace Villas, Avon / Vail Valley
Le Parker Méridien Palm Springs
Paradise Stream Resort
Pocono Palace Resort
Sheraton Bellevue
Sheraton Grand Sacramento
Sheraton Mahwah Hotel
Sheraton Metairie – New Orleans Hotel
Sheraton Reston Hotel
Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel
Sheraton Suites Key West
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Sunset Key Guest Cottages
The St. Regis Deer Valley
The St. Regis Atlanta
THE US GRANT
The Westin Bellevue
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
The Westin Edina Galleria
The Westin Galleria Houston
The Westin Houston, Memorial City
The Westin Imagine Orlando
The Westin Key West Resort Marina
The Westin Los Angeles Airport
The Westin Reston Heights
The Westin Riverfront Mountain Villas
The Westin South Coast Plaza
The Westin Tampa Harbour Island
Vistana’s Beach Club
W San Diego
W Silicon Valley
Walt Disney World Dolphin
Walt Disney World Swan

ALGERIA

Le Méridien Oran Hotel & Conference Center
Sheraton Oran

ARGENTINA

Sheraton Mar del Plata

AUSTRALIA

Four Points by Sheraton Geelong
Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, Darling Harbour
Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Resort
Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa Gold Coast
Sheraton Noosa Resort & Spa
Sheraton on the Park
The Westin Melbourne
The Westin Sydney

AUSTRIA

Schloss Fuschl, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg
Sheraton Fuschlsee Salzburg Hotel Jagdhof

BANGLADESH

The Westin Dhaka

BRAZIL

Sheraton Barra
Four Points Curitiba

CAMBODIA

Le Méridien Angkor

CANADA

Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon
Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway
Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton West

CHAD

Le Méridien Chari

CHILE

Sheraton Miramar

CHINA

Aloft Beijing, Haidian
Aloft Haiyang
Aloft Nanhai, Foshan
Aloft Yancheng
Aloft Zhengzhou Shangjie
Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian Hotel and Serviced Apartments
Four Points by Sheraton Guangzhou, Dongpu
Four Points by Sheraton Hainan, Sanya – Opening March 31, 2012
Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou, Binjiang
Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa
Four Points by Sheraton Lianyungang
Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Chengyang
Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Daning
Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Pudong
Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen
Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort – Opening January 1, 2012
Four Points by Sheraton Suzhou
Four Points by Sheraton Tai’an
Four Points by Sheraton Taicang
Four Points by Sheraton Yangzhou, Hanjiang – Opening March 31, 2012
Le Méridien Chongqing, Nan’an
Le Méridien Cyberport
Le Méridien Qingdao
Le Méridien She Shan Shanghai
Le Méridien Shimei Bay Beach Resort & Spa
Le Méridien Xiamen
Le Royal Méridien Shanghai
Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel
Sheraton Changsha Hotel
Sheraton Changzhou Wujin Hotel
Sheraton Changzhou Xinbei Hotel
Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel
Sheraton Chongqing Hotel
Sheraton Dameisha Resort, Shenzhen
Sheraton Daqing Hotel
Sheraton Dongguan Hotel
Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel
Sheraton Guangzhou Huadu Resort
Sheraton Guilin Hotel
Sheraton Guiyang Hotel
Sheraton Haikou Resort
Sheraton Hangzhou Wetland Park Resort
Sheraton Hohhot Hotel
Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers
Sheraton Huizhou Beach Resort
Sheraton Jiangyin Hotel
Sheraton Jinan Hotel
Sheraton Jinzhou Hotel
Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort
Sheraton Nanchang Hotel
Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley Hotel & Towers
Sheraton Nanning Hotel
Sheraton Ningbo Hotel
Sheraton Qiandao Lake Resort
Sheraton Qingyuan Lion Lake Resort – Opening January 1, 2012
Sheraton Sanya Haitang Bay Resort – Opening February 18, 2012
Sheraton Sanya Resort
Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel
Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel
Sheraton Shanghai Pudong Hotel & Residences
Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel
Sheraton Shenzhen Futian Hotel
Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort
Sheraton Shunde Hotel
Sheraton Tianjin Binhai Hotel
Sheraton Tianjin Hotel
Sheraton Urumqi Hotel
Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel
Sheraton Wuxi Binhu Hotel
Sheraton Xiamen Hotel
Sheraton Xian Hotel
Sheraton Xian North City Hotel
Sheraton Yantai Golden Beach Resort – Opening February 20, 2012
Sheraton Zhenjiang Hotel
Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel
Sheraton Zhoushan Hotel
The Astor Hotel, Tianjin The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing
The Royal Begonia, Sanya – Opening February 18, 2012
The St. Regis Beijing
The St. Regis Lhasa Resort
The St. Regis Nanjing
The St. Regis Shanghai
The St. Regis Shenzhen
The St. Regis Tianjin
The Westin Beijing Chaoyang
The Westin Beijing Financial Street
The Westin Bund Center, Shanghai
The Westin Changbaishan Resort – Opening April 30, 2012
The Westin Fuzhou Minjiang
The Westin Guangzhou
The Westin Hefei Baohe
The Westin Nanjing
The Westin Ningbo – Opening January 1, 2012
The Westin Pazhou
The Westin Resort, Macau
The Westin Shenzhen Nanshan
The Westin Tianjin
The Westin Wuhan Wuchang
The Westin Xiamen – Opening February 23, 2012
The Westin Xian
W Hong Kong

COLOMBIA

Four Points Cali
Four Points Medellin

EGYPT

Sheraton Cairo Hotel, Towers and Casino

EL SALVADOR

Sheraton Presidente San Salvador

FIJI

Sheraton Denarau Villas
Sheraton Fiji Resort
The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa, Fiji

FRANCE

Prince de Galles, Paris

GERMANY

Four Points by Sheraton Muenchen Olympiapark
Four Points by Sheraton Muenchen Central
Four Points by Sheraton Brauneck
Le Méridien Grand Hotel Nuernberg
Dom Hotel
Le Méridien Parkhotel Frankfurt
Le Méridien Munich
Le Méridien Stuttgart
Sheraton Frankfurt Congress Hotel
Sheraton Offenbach Hotel
Sheraton Munich Arabellapark Hotel
Sheraton Munich Westpark Hotel
Sheraton Munich Airport Hotel
Arabella Sheraton Alpenhotel
Sheraton Essen Hotel
Sheraton Hanover Pelikan Hotel
The Westin Grand Frankfurt
The Westin Grand Munich
The Westin Grand Hotel Berlin
The Westin Bellevue Dresden

GREECE

Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens
Vedema Resort
Blue Palace Luxury Collection Resort and Spa
Mystique, Santorini
The Romanos, Costa Navarino
Santa Marina Resort & Villas, Mykonos
Sheraton Rhodes Resort
The Westin Resort, Costa Navarino

HUNGARY

Le Méridien Budapest

INDIA

Aloft Ahmedabad, SG Road – Opening February 1, 2012
Aloft Bengaluru Whitefield
Aloft Chandigarh Zirakpur – Opening February 1, 2012
Aloft Chennai, OMR – IT Expressway
Aloft Coimbatore Singanallur
Four Points by Sheraton Hotel & Serviced Apartments, Pune
Four Points by Sheraton Jaipur, City Square
Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi
Four Points by Sheraton Visakhapatnam
ITC Grand Central, Mumbai
ITC Grand Chola, Chennai – Opening February 1, 2012
ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad
ITC Maratha, Mumbai
ITC Maurya, New Delhi
ITC Mughal, Agra
ITC Rajputana, Jaipur
ITC Royal Gardenia, Bengaluru
ITC Sonar, Kolkata
ITC Windsor, Bengaluru
Le Méridien Ahmedabad
Le Méridien Bangalore
Le Méridien Coimbatore
Le Méridien Jaipur
Le Méridien Kochi
Le Méridien New Delhi
Le Méridien Pune
Le Royal Méridien Chennai
Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway
Sheraton New Delhi Hotel
Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers, Chennai
Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort & Spa
The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi
The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace
The Westin Mumbai Garden City
The Westin Pune Koregaon Park
The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa

INDONESIA

The Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali
Keraton at The Plaza, Jakarta – Opening February 15, 2012
Le Méridien Jakarta
Sheraton Bandara Hotel
Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers
Sheraton Lampung Hotel
Sheraton Media Hotel & Towers
Sheraton Mustika Yogyakarta Resort and Spa
Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort
Sheraton Surabaya Hotel & Towers
The St. Regis Bali Resort
The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali
W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak

IRELAND

Sheraton Athlone Hotel

ITALY

Gritti Palace
Hotel Pitrizza, Costa Smeralda
Hotel Romazzino, Costa Smeralda
Hotel Cala di Volpe, Costa Smeralda
Sheraton Diana Majestic
The Westin Palace Milan

JAPAN

Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers
Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort
Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel
Sheraton Hiroshima Hotel
Sheraton Miyako Hotel, Osaka
Sheraton Sapporo Hotel
The St. Regis Osaka
The Westin Awaji Island Resort and Conference Center
The Westin Miyako, Kyoto
The Westin Nagoya Castle
The Westin Osaka
The Westin Sendai
Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers

JORDAN

Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel & Towers

LEBANON

Four Points by Sheraton Bhamdoun
Four Points by Sheraton Le Verdun

LITHUANIA

Le Méridien Vilnius

MALAYSIA

Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu
Four Points by Sheraton Kuching
Four Points by Sheraton Langkawi Resort
Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur
Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel
Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort
The Andaman, Langkawi
The Westin Kuala Lumpur
The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa

MALDIVES, REPUBLIC OF

Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa
W Retreat & Spa – Maldives

MAURITIUS

The Grand Mauritian Resort & Spa

MEXICO

Sheraton Ambassador Monterrey

NEW CALDONIA

Le Méridien Ile des Pins
Le Méridien Nouméa

NIGERIA

Sheraton Lagos Hotel

OMAN

Sheraton Oman Hotel

PAKISTAN

Sheraton Karachi Hotel

RUSSIA

Le Méridien Moscow Country Club

SAUDI ARABIA

Le Méridien Jeddah
Sheraton Jeddah Hotel
Sheraton Riyadh Hotel & Towers
Sheraton Dammam Hotel & Towers
The Westin Jeddah

SINGAPORE

Sheraton Towers Singapore
The St. Regis Singapore

SOUTH KOREA

Sheraton Grande Walkerhill
Sheraton Incheon Hotel
Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel
The Westin Chosun, Busan
The Westin Chosun, Seoul
W Seoul – Walkerhill

SPAIN

Hotel Maria Cristina, San Sebastian
Castillo Hotel Son Vida, Palma de Mallorca
Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville
Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf Hotel
Sheraton La Caleta Resort & Spa
St. Regis Mardavall, Mallorca

SWITZERLAND

Hotel President Wilson

SYRIA

Le Méridien Lattakia
Sheraton Aleppo Hotel
Sheraton Ma’aret Sednaya Hotel & Resort
Sheraton Damascus Hotel

TAIWAN

Four Points by Sheraton Chung Ho, Taipei
Le Méridien Taipei
Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel, Taiwan
Sheraton Taipei Hotel
The Westin Taipei
W Taipei

THAILAND

Aloft Bangkok
Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sukhumvit 15
Le Méridien Bangkok
Le Méridien Chiang Mai
Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort, Thailand
Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort
Le Méridien Koh Samui Resort & Spa
Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort
Le Méridien Suvarnabhumi Golf Resort & Spa
Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel
Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers
Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok
Sheraton Hua Hin Resort & Spa
Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort
Sheraton Pattaya Resort
The Naka Island, Phuket
The St. Regis Bangkok
The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok
The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket
W Retreat Koh Samui

TURKEY

Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler
Sheraton Ankara Hotel and Convention Center
Lugal, A Luxury Collection Hotel Ankara
Sheraton Cesme

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Four Points by Sheraton Sheikh Zayed Road
Le Méridien Dubai
Le Méridien Fairway
Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina
Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa
Le Méridien Al Aqah Beach Resort
Grosvenor House
Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel and Towers
The St. Regis Abu Dhabi
The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina

UNITED KINGDOM

The Lanesborough, a St. Regis Hotel

URUGUAY

Sheraton Colonia

VIETNAM

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel
Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa
Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers

YEMEN

Sheraton Sana’a Hotel

Starwood Hotels Germany up to 1,500 bonus points to Jan 31

Ric Garrido — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:57:04 +0000

Germany has 18 Starwood Hotels participating in a winter season bonus points promotion for stays November 15 to January 31, 2012.

500 bonus points for 2 night stay.
750 bonus points for 3 night stay.
1,000 bonus points for 4 night stay.
1,500 bonus points for 5 or more nights stay.
Consecutive nights at same hotel required for bonus points.

SPG Promotion registration is required by January 29.

Participating Starwood Hotels

The Westin Grand, Berlin
Sheraton Essen Hotel
The Westin Leipzig
The Westin Bellevue, Dresden
Le Méridien Parkhotel Frankfurt
Sheraton Düsseldorf Airport Hotel
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel & Confernece Center
Sheraton Frankfurt Congress Hotel
Sheraton Offenbach Hotel
The Westin Grand Frankfurt
Le Méridien Stuttgart
Le Méridien München
Sheraton München Arabellapark Hotel
Sheraton München Westpark
Sheraton München Airport Hotel
The Westin Grand München
Four Points by Sheraton München Olympiapark
Four Points by Sheraton München Central

Starwood Hotels Bonus Points in Germany 15 November - 31 January, 2012.

Part 1: Buying and transferring hotel points for hotel stays

Ric Garrido — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:07:16 +0000

Most major hotel loyalty programs sell hotel points to frequent guest members. Occasionally you will find hotels where it is simply cheaper to buy the points and redeem a points reward for a hotel stay than pay the published rate.

Loyalty Traveler researched the major hotel programs for points purchase rules. There are eight hotel loyalty programs allowing the purchase of hotel points and I will compare and contrast the features of six different programs with some tables. (Choice Privileges sells up to 20,000 points per year. Best Western Rewards allows members to buy points at $10 per 1,000 points. I left these two programs out of this analysis).

Hotel Programs selling hotel points

Best Western Rewards
Club Carlson
Choice Privileges
Hilton HHonors
Hyatt Gold Passport
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards
Marriott Rewards
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)

Accor A|Club and Wyndham Rewards do not sell hotel loyalty points to members through their websites.

There are limitations to buying points explained in this post and there are some disadvantages like reward stays do not count for promotions in most cases and reward stays do not qualify for elite status credit with most programs. Hilton, Choice and Starwood do count reward stays for calendar year elite qualifying stays and nights.

Background

Last week Club Carlson announced it launched the option for members to buy Club Carlson hotel points. Looking over the cost of hotel points in Club Carlson revealed a good purchase rate for consumers in my opinion. As I created a table for Club Carlson hotel reward categories I thought about the relationship between the cost of points and hotel categories across different programs.

There are several factors that come into play when evaluating the value of buying hotel points.

Hotel rates are dynamic. A hotel that may have room rates at $150 one night might charge $400 the next night. Rates fluctuate and change depending on day of week, holidays, conferences and many other factors. Hotel programs factor the cost of points and price points high enough that it is typically not cost efficient or even allowed by program rules to buy points for repeatedly redeeming hotel rewards stays using purchased points.

Hotel Reward Rates are mostly a fixed standard reward cost. Major hotel loyalty programs group hotels into categories for redemption purposes.

Hyatt has six categories, from 5,000 points to 22,000 points per night.
Hilton has seven categories and higher end Waldorf Astoria hotels from 7,500 to 80,000 points per night.
SPG has seven categories and higher reward rate hotels in category 7 from 2,000 to 70,000+per night.
Marriott has eight categories in Marriott brands and five tiers in Ritz-Carlton from 7,500 to 70,000 points per night.
Club Carlson has six categories of rewards from 9,000 to 50,000 points per night.
IHG Priority Club groups award level by hotel brand with some brands having tiered levels from 10,000 to 40,000 points per night.

Hilton HHonors Premium Room Rewards are a major move into dynamic reward price for hotel rewards. The cost for these new HHonors rewards are tied to the published room rate for the stay. Unfortunately the exchange rate for points-to-cash-savings is not that good for many HHonors Premium Rewards. Redemption value tends to be $3 to $6 per 1,000 points. The 30% rebate on Premium rewards booked by January 31, 2012 is a major promotion offer for better redemption rate for Premium Room rewards for Points & Money and Premium Room reward hotel stays.

Discount Hotel Rewards – Fewer Points

Most hotel loyalty programs offer some discount reward rates for selected hotels.

Club Carlson Points + Cash
Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards (Dec. 5 – I do not see any PS dates listed after Dec 2011)
HHonors Points & Money and
HHonors Premium Room Rewards for more points.
HHonors VIP Rewards (15% to 25% discount)
IHG Priority Club Rewards PointBreaks
IHG Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights (Loyalty Traveler Dec 1 post)
IHG Priority Club Points & Cash
Marriott Rewards 5th night free
Marriott Rewards PointSavers (reward cost is one category less and 5th night free applies to PointSavers too)
Marriott Hotel+Air Travel Package
SPG Cash & Points
SPG 5th Night Free
SPG Nights and Flights
SPG 50% off rack rate (1,000 points = $35)

The fact that hotel published room rates are dynamic pricing and reward redemption rates are fixed pricing means there are nights with opportunities to get better value by redeeming hotel points than paying the published rate. Hotel room rates change rate nightly, yet the cost for a free night using points remains the same. You may be able to book the hotel for less money buying points and redeeming an award night at a hotel when hotel rates are high.

Cost to Buy Points for Reward Nights Tables

The tables below show the cost of buying points for a hotel night at the different category levels in each hotel loyalty program selling points (except Choice Privileges).

Loyalty Traveler’s Summary of Hotel Loyalty Program Rules to Buy, Receive and Transfer Points

Buy Points

Each program shows the Calendar Year Maximum Purchase Limit and Cost to Buy Points

Club Carlson = 40,000 points ($7 per 1,000 points).

Hilton HHonors = 40,000 points ($10 per 1,000 points) NOTE: member may buy unlimited points for immediate reward stay redemption at time of booking.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points ($24 per 1,000 points).

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points ($11.50 per 1,000 points).

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($12.50 per 1,000 points).

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($35 per 1,000 points. Current sale is 20% discount through Dec 31, 2011 $28 per 1,000 points).

Receive Points (gifted)

Club Carlson = 40,000 points (buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hilton HHonors = member may receive unlimited points transferred from any other member at rate of $25 per 10,000 points.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points, member may receive maximum 40,000 points as gift and buy 40,000 points for self.)

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points, member may receive maximum 50,000 points as gift and buy 50,000 points for self.)

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hyatt and IHG Priority Club are only two hotel programs allowing a member to buy maximum annual limit of points for own account and also receive maximum annual limit as a gift from another member.

Transfer Points

Club Carlson = unlimited and free through Member Services.

Hilton HHonors = any member is allowed to transfer points to another member for a fee, $25 per 10,000 points, except any single member is allowed free transfers for additional points gifted and transferred after 200,000 points ($500 in fees) in a calendar year. Point transfers must be in 10,000 point blocks.

Hyatt Gold Passport = may transfer between any two members the minimum points needed for a reward
redemption. Two members must sign transfer request.

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points in a calendar year at $5.00 per 1,000 points.

Marriott Rewards = may transfer between two spouses/domestic partners the minimum points needed for a reward redemption, rounded to nearest 1,000 points.

Starwood Preferred Guest = free transfer between members with same residential address for at least 30 days. SVO Vacation members may transfer points between accounts regardless of address.

There is more variability in rules for the “point transfer between members” aspect of hotel programs. Club Carlson has liberal policy of free transfers between any two members. SPG has a less restrictive policy than most programs if you share the same address. Hyatt is a fair policy allowing any two members to transfer the minimum points needed for a reward stay. Marriott Rewards terms state transfers are limited to spouses/domestic partners and only the minimum level for a reward redemption. Priority Club has the most restrictive policy with a relatively high fee and an annual transfer limit any member may give or receive.

Hilton HHonors appears to have a restrictive policy in charging a $25 fee for transferring 10,000 points. The advantage to HHonors is the rule allowing a member to receive unlimited points and for a member to gift/transfer unlimited points. Basically a person with 1,000,000 HHonors points can transfer them all to someone else for $500. That would be a lucky recipient.

A more commonly useful strategy is crowdsourcing a network of friends to score a nice HHonors getaway. Set up a gift registry with HHonors for something like a college graduation present or wedding honeymoon and gifts of 10,000 HHonors points can be transferred for $25. Get a response from 20 to 50 HHonors members and that HHonors account can be filled with 200,000 to 500,000 points for $500 to $1,250 distributed among a large group of people. Your friends and family don’t have to think too hard about a gift and a week of free hotel rooms is a nice gift to receive.

This kind of opportunity is only matched by Club Carlson and they currently allow you to do it for free.

Part Two of this study into buying and transferring hotel points will look at real examples of how to apply these points purchase and transfer rules to hotel stay rewards.

SPG Two free nights after 9 nights Asia/Pacific Nov 29-Mar 15, 2012

Ric Garrido — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:23:57 +0000

Starwood Preferred Guest has a promotion specific to Asia Pacific hotels for one free weekend night after staying 5 nights and a second free night after 9 nights from November 29, 2011 through March 15, 2012 when stay is paid with a MasterCard. The nights are cumulative during the promotion period so can be done in one hotel stay or nine hotel stays. Maximum two free nights may be earned per member.

The nice thing about a steady travel partner is doubling up on these bonuses. I can earn two free nights and my wife can earn two free nights and then redeem all free nights on a single hotel stay of four nights.

This offer is available to all SPG members globally and requires promotion registration.

SPG Members must register for this promotion at http://www.spg.com/mastercard2days or by calling the nearest Customer Contact Center and saying “I want to register for 2 days of Happy!” requesting Registration Code “4MC” no later than March 15, 2012.

Twice as many hotels to earn free nights than burn free nights.

The particpating properties is an interesting aspect of the offer. There are about 220 Starwood Hotels in Asia Pacific for earning the free nights, but fewer than 90 hotels for redeeming the free nights. Granted that Four Points and Aloft may not be where you want to spend free nights when you can stay at the Westin Tokyo or Le Meriden Koh Samui Resort & Spa, but if you find yourself with a free night credit about to expire and the Four Points is the only thing around…

Redeeming Free Nights

Contact SPG customer service and mention Award ID 4MCFN.

Free night valid at participating hotels Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights
Redeemable between January 1, 2012 and April 10, 2012.
Free night may not be transferred to any other SPG member.

Participating Starwood Hotels for Redeeming Free Nights

Participating Starwood Hotels for earning free nights

Loyalty Traveler analysis:

This is a good value promotion offer if you have a MasterCard and find yourself in Asia Pacific. Many of these hotels for earning free nights have daily rates under $75 per night meaning the cost of earning two free nights could be under US$700. And if you are ultimately being reimbursed and not paying the hotel bill then price is not so important. Nine nights over the course of 14 weeks should be an easy bonus to earn.

Redemption properties include only two category 6 hotels with the W Retreat & Spa Bali, Seminyak and Westin Tokyo.

Assorted Category 5 hotels like Westin Sydney and Westin Melbourne in Australia and St. Regis Lhasa, Nepal or St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort are redemption options. Thailand has seven Le Meridien hotels and resorts. Most of the hotel redemption choices for free nights are SPG category-4 properties. You can value these free nights at 10,000 points per night and “good for you” if you redeem for a higher hotel. This offer looks to be the equivalent of earning 2,000 bonus SPG points for every eligible night. Keep that in mind when you are comparing rates and other promotion offers.

Of course we can all try and redeem at the W Retreat Bali.

SPG-MasterCard Two Days of Happy Earn Nov 29-March 15 / Burn Jan 1-April 10, 2012

SPG CyberMonday Sale for room and suite discounts

Ric Garrido — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:49:10 +0000

Starwood Preferred Guest has two Cyber Monday Advance Sales for SPG members at participating Starwood Resorts and Hotels. One offer is advertised as 50% off every other night on Suites and Upgraded Rooms - promo code S2S. So this is actually a 25% discount if you stay an even number of nights; or lesser discount if you stay an odd number of nights.

The other CyberMonday offer is 15% to 35% off Standard Room rates for each night at select hotels – promo code CYBERLTO. The offers are shown below followed by the list of participating hotels.

50% off Premium Rooms and Suites – Promotion Code S2S

Book by Sunday November 27 for stays from December 1 through April 30, 2012. Discount applies to every 2nd night.

Book online and use promotion code S2S for this offer or book by phone at 866-716-8147.

15% to 35% off standard rooms – Promotion Code CYBERLTO

This offer is up to 35% off Best Available Rate and may be booked through December 2, 2011 for stays from December 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012.

This deal brought the rate of Westin Verasa Napa down to $129 if you want to wake up Christmas day in wine country.

Participating Starwood Hotels for S2S Suite Discount – Book by November 27., 2011

Arizona

The Phoenician, Scottsdale

The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician

W Scottsdale

The Westin Phoenix Downtown

Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel

Four Points by Sheraton Tucson Airport

California

The US GRANT, San Diego

SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills

W San Francisco

The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites

The Westin Verasa Napa

The Westin San Francisco Market Street

The Westin Monache Resort, Mammoth

The Westin St. Francis

Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina

Sheraton Suites San Diego at Symphony Hall

Colorado

The St. Regis Aspen Resort

District of Colombia

The Fairfax Hotel at Embassy Row, Washington D.C.

W Washington D.C.

Florida

W Fort Lauderdale

The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood

Walt Disney World Swan

Walt Disney World Dolphin

Hawaii

The Royal Hawaiian, Waikiki

The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas

Sheraton Kauai Resort

Illinois

W Chicago – Lakeshore

Louisiana

Sheraton New Orleans Hotel

Massachussetts

Sheraton Boston Hotel

Michigan

The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit

Minnesota

Hotel Ivy, Minneapolis

W Minneapolis – The Foshay

Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis

New Jersey

Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel

New York

The Chatwal, New York City

Sheraton Brooklyn

Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers

Pennsylvania

Sheraton Philadelphia University City Hotel

Texas

W Austin

Sheraton Suites Market Center

Sheraton Gunter Hotel San Antonio

Sheraton Suites Houston Near The Galleria

The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio

The Westin Houston, Memorial City

The Westin La Cantera Resort, San Antonio

Sheraton Houston Brookhollow Hotel

Four Points by Sheraton Tucson Airport

Virginia

The Westin Reston Heights

Caribbean

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico

W Retreat & Spa – Vieques Island

The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba

The Westin St. John Resort & Villas

Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel and Casino

Canada

W Montreal

Le Meridien Versailles

Le Meridien King Edward

The Westin Grand, Vancouver

The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa, Victoria

The Westin Trillium House, Blue Mountain

Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel

Le Centre Sheraton Montreal Hotel

Mexico

Le Meridien Cancun Resort & Spa

The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort Villas, Cancun

The Westin Resort & Spa, Los Cabos

The Westin Resort & Spa, Cancun

The Westin Santa Fe, Mexico City

Sheraton Buganvilias Resort and Convention Center

Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Golf and Spa Resort, Los Cabos

Sheraton Miramar Hotel & Convention Center

Sheraton Ambassador Hotel

South America

Park Tower, Buenos Aires, Argentina

W Santiago, Chile

Sheraton Colonia Golf & Spa Resort, Uruguay

Sheraton Mendoza Hotel, Argentina

Sheraton Salta Hotel, Argentina

Sheraton Panama Hotel & Convention Center

Sheraton Porto Alegre Hotel

Sheraton Montevideo Hotel, Urguguay

Sheraton Libertador Hotel, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sheraton Lima Hotel & Convention Center, Peru

Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center

Four Points by Sheraton Santiago

Four Points by Sheraton Montevideo

Participating Hotels for CYBERLTO 15%-35% off Standard Rooms – Book by Dec 2, 2011.

You must go through a 4-step tedious dropdown menu to see participating hotels for this offer.

Buy Starwood points at $28 per 1,000 Nov 1-Dec 30, 2011

Ric Garrido — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:47:09 +0000

Starwood Preferred Guest is once again selling points at a 20% discount from November 1 to December 30, 2011 making the cost to buy 1,000 points $28 rather than $35. SPG members are allowed to receive a maximum 20,000 points per calendar year from purchased points or gifted points. SPG has offered this discount the past two years in the last quarter of the calendar year.

$28 per 1,000 points is a good value for many hotel rewards where the cost to buy points is lower than the room rate. Reward nights using points cover the room rate and tax. Some hotels have resort fees which are not included in a points reward.

I find SPG Category 4 hotels with Cash & Points availability typically very useful when rates are high. At this purchase price the cost of 4,000 points is $112 + $60 Cash for a reward night. Even with tax added to the $60, the total cost for a reward night is about $180 for many Starwood hotels that can easily be $300 per night. The savings is much smaller if there are only standard rewards at 10,000 points since you pay $280 to buy 10,000 points.

Starwood Preferred Guest now counts award nights for SPG elite qualification so Cash & Points stays are even more valuable awards.

In January 2012 you are eligible to buy another 20,000 points, but you might want to wait until Q4 2012 since this offer looks to be an annual sale offer.

I was surprised at how sparse SPG Cash & Points award availability is for hotels in California when I looked for a good example of hotel rate savings.

Here is one example:

Four Points Los Angeles Westside Nov. 9, 2011 is $170 all-in AAA rate.

Four Points Los Angeles Westside, SPG category 2 award at $30 and 1,600 points.

Buy 2,000 points = $56
Cash & Points cash portion = $30
12% hotel tax on $30 + 0.05% California tourism tax = $3.62
$89.62 Cash & Points rate when buying SPG points vs. $170.48 for AAA rate.

Buy Starpoints link.

Buy Starpoints Frequently Asked Questions.

SPG Alert: Enroll now before Elite Challenge Changes Nov 1, 2011

Ric Garrido — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:57:04 +0000

Just saw this post from Starwood Lurker II on FlyerTalk posted about 60 hours ago suggesting SPG members should sign up now for an SPG elite status Platinum challenge of 15 nights in 90 days. Apparently the challenge will be more restrictive beginning next Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

Update Oct. 26: See comments section below for Stay Challenge changes reported as

18 paid nights required during three calendar months time frame.
90 days with any start time changed to three calendar months beginning on first day of month and ending last day of month. Example: February 1 – April 30, 2012.

Starwood Lurker posted on FlyerTalk Post #118 October 6, 2011 that only paid nights count in a Stay Challenge. Award nights or Cash & Points nights do not count as eligible nights for SPG Elite Stay Challenge, despite these now counting as eligible elite qualifying nights when earning SPG elite by standard qualification requirement of 25 stays or 50 nights.

[back to original text of post]

There are no details as to the changes, but suffice to say that when a Starwood Lurker speaks on FlyerTalk, members should listen.

If you have been thinking about taking on an elite status challenge for SPG Platinum with 15 nights in 90 days, then you need to try and enroll now.

SPG stopped instant elite status matches April 1, 2011 and replaced them with the 15 nights in 90 days for members accepted into the elite challenge.

Here is the post by Starwood Lurker on March 31, 2011:

Policy Change Related to Status Match Requests – Beginning April 1, 2011

The folks at SPG want to give advance notice to the Flyertalk community that there will soon be a change in policy regarding status match requests from competing frequent stay programs. Starwood Preferred Guest is evolving its policy on status matches to Platinum to a Stay Challenge format beginning April 1, 2011.Any contacts regarding a Stay Challenge offer will be done via email to the Platinum Concierge department. Any member wishing to apply for a Stay Challenge beginning April 1, 2011 can contact them at platinum.liaison@starwoodhotels.comin order to request consideration.Members will be advised on the full requirements of their Stay Challenge and then contacted to advise if the Stay Challenge has been met. Should a member not successfully complete a Stay Challenge, they may request another once the original Challenge has expired.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media
Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

While not mentioned in the post the Stay Challenge requirements for SPG Platinum are widely reported as 15 nights in 90 days.

Apparently something different will go into effect on Tuesday November 1, 2011.

Apply now for an SPG Elite Stay Challenge if you want to get in before the changes.

FlyerTalk thread: Policy Change Related to Status Match Requests – Beginning April 1, 2011

Loyalty traveler post: Stay Challenges replace elite matches for Starwood and Hyatt (April 3, 2011)