The second component to the “You Like Us, We Like You” offer is a chance for ten winners to receive 100,000 Starpoints each in a drawing around May 25. The sweepstakes is limited to SPG members in certain countries.

The Sweepstakes component is open only to legal residents of the United States (including the District of Columbia but excluding Florida), Canada (excluding Quebec), Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom who are 18 years of age or older, have reached the age of majority in their respective jurisdictions at the time of entry, and are members of the Starwood Preferred Guest® program.

Who did Florida piss off at SPG?

More #SPGAMEX 25,000 Starpoints Sweepstakes

Other SPG Amex Stars are giving away 25,000 Starpoints this month.

Jen Miner of The Vacation Gals is another Amex Star with a 25,000 points sweepstakes. Entry deadline is May 24, 6:00pm Pacific time.

Mike Richard of Vagabondish is another Amex Star with a 25,000 points sweepstakes. Entry deadline is May 30, 6:00pm Eastern time.

Ben Schlappig, aka Lucky, at One Mile at a Time is another Amex Star with a 25,000 points sweepstakes. Entry deadline is May 27, 11:59pm Eastern time.

JohnnyJet is also an AmexStar, but I don’t see a sweepstakes yet on his site.

James Clear of Passive Panda and me at Loyalty Traveler have already completed our 25K sweepstakes.

@adelantando

Here is what the lucky SPG member has to say,

As a new college graduate, vacation funds are very limited. However, with my husband traveling for work nearly every week, I soon learned how to parlay his reward programs into wonderful travel experiences. With the points and free night promotions offered last year through SPG, we were able to vacation for a week in Hawaii, a weekend in London and finally on 11/11/11 we spent a memorable day in Paris, ALL FOR FREE! No other hotel program has the properties that excite us and allow for us to get so much for our money, (when we actually pay, that is…) Although there have been promotions to possibly lure us into staying with other hotel chains, we are not interested in changing our loyalty from SPG.

Congratulations to @adelantando.

Remember that this Tribeca Film Festival giveaway was the first of six SPG Amex Star sweepstakes from Loyalty Traveler for the 2012 year.

Also keep in mind there are four other SPG Amex Star bloggers who also will be running sweepstakes in 2012. I listed three of these bloggers in my previous SPG Amex Star post.

You might want to check out One Mile at a Time to enter Lucky’s SPG American Express 25,000 Starpoints sweepstakes running through next week.

Links to my Loyalty Traveler posts provide more detail and promotion analysis for each offer.

Most hotel loyalty promotions are two to four months in duration.

The easiest way to quickly see a list of all hotel loyalty promotions discussed on Loyalty Traveler is to check my Loyalty Traveler Facebook page. All Loyalty Traveler post links feed into Twitter and all my tweets feed into Loyalty Traveler Facebook.

Summer 2012 hotel loyalty promotions

Le Club Accor - this Europe-based program officially changed its name from A|Club to Le Club Accor on March 28, 2012. Accor Hotels offers a variety of global regional bonusesand rate discounts. The program tends to have regionalized rate and bonus points promotions.

Until May 31, 2012 earn 1,000 miles per stay with Delta or Aeroplan.

Best Western Rewards – April 15 – June 3, 2012

Earn a $50 Best Western Travel Card after 3 stays. Elite members earn 1,000 bonus points for each stay, up to 3,000 bonus points.

Best Western FMJUMP12 promotion registration required.

• Best Western Jump Start to Summer Promotion 2012 FAQ.
• Best Western Jump Start to Summer Promotion 2012 T&C.
• Loyalty traveler post April 4, 2012.

Facebook Fans: Best Western runs weekly promotions on its Facebook page. Any Best Western frequent guest should check out Best Western Facebook.

Choice Privileges 

May 17 – August 15, 2012. Choice’s new offer is 2 stays for 8,000 points or a $50 gift card. Choice Privileges Summer Promotion registration link. There is no limit to the number of times this bonus can be earned. The value of this offer is dependent on where you can redeem points. This March 26, 2012 Loyalty Traveler post shows the value of 8,000 Choice privileges points in Paris can be quite the hotel savings.

Club Carlson

***** Club Carlson – Radisson Big Night Giveaway May 15-July 15, 2012. Club Carlson repeats the late-2011 promotion letting the first 100,000 members to register earn 50,000 bonus points after staying one night at a Radisson worldwide.

***** Club Carlson – Country Inns & Suites Big Night Giveaway May 15-July 15, 2012.First 35,000 members to register beginning May 15 earn 44,000 points after staying one night in a Country Inn & Suites.

***** Club Carlson – Park Inn Big Night Giveaway May 22-July 22, 2012.First 20,000 members to register beginning May 15 earn 44,000 points after staying one night in a Park Inn.

[Registration Links Note:the details for these three Club Carlson promotion will be available May 15. Registration for Radisson and Country Inn at 1am Tuesday May 15 eastern; 10pm Monday May 14 pacific time zones. Park Inn registration begins May 22.]

RadissonBigNightGiveaway.com

SOGOCountry.com

ParkInnOnePlusOne.com

Loyalty Traveler posts:

May 10 – Radisson, Country Inn and Park Inn brand promotions May to July.

May 8 –  Club Carlson Big Night Giveaway Summer Travel Promotions

Hilton HHonors

*** Hilton HHonors – April 1 – June 30, 2012 – Double Points or Double Miles. Registration required. Loyalty traveler post March 21, 2012.

Hyatt Gold Passport

**** Hyatt 3rd Night Free Rate is a rate discount for bookings through November 30, 2012 for stays by December 30, 2012. Rate includes breakfast for two and 2pm late checkout. My Loyalty Traveler rate analysis March 21showed this is a good value and usually lower than AAA rates.

Gold Passport Diamond Challenge- Most beneficial perhaps is to tie this offer into a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond Challenge for 12 nights in 60 days (normally 25 stays or 50 nights in calendar year). As Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond for 2012 you also will receive 4 confirmed suite upgrades. Start the Gold Passport Diamond Challenge first and then get the credit card once you have Diamond status to get confirmed suite upgrades for your credit card free nights. FlyerTalk discussion threadon Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond challenge.

*** Hyatt bonus miles May 1 – August 31, 2012,

24,500 airline miles with 11 stays with choice of 11 airline partners.

• 500 miles is normal earning rate for first stay.
• 2,000 total miles (4x) for hotel stays 2 to 4.
• 2,500 total miles (5x) for hotel stays 5 to 11.
• Loyalty Traveler post May 1, 2012

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards

*** IHG Priority Club 1,000 bonus points or 200 bonus miles per night May 14-Sep 3. Maximum 20,000 bonus points or 4,000 bonus miles after 20 nights. Loyalty Traveler post May 14.

**** IHG Priority Club 2012 Quarter 2 Stay promotions – Priority Club members may register for one of the quarterly stay promotions running April 1-June 30, 2012. You can only register for one offer, so pick the target you are most likely to reach. Loyalty Traveler post March 16, 2012.

• Stay 3 nights = 5,000 bonus points.
• Stay 7 nights = 10,000 bonus points.
• Stay 15 nights = 15,000 bonus points.

***** IHG Priority Club PointBreaks hotel rewards to May 31. These are hotels for 5,000 points. Priority Club points are only $30 through Daily Getaways sale April 9. Priority Club also has discount rates for buying points through April 30. Loyalty Traveler post March 30.

Marriott Rewards

***** Marriott Rewards – Summer Bonus 2012: June 1 – August 31, 2012. Earn one free night certificate at a category 1-4 hotel every two stays; maximum 3 free nights.  Free night certificate is valid for 12 months from issuance. Some members may have been targeted with a different bonus points offer. Loyalty Traveler post May 7, 2012.

Note to Marriott Rewards members: You must have your Marriott Rewards account earning preference set to miles in order to see Marriott Rewards miles promotions.

Starwood Preferred Guest

*** SPG Nice Choice (May 1 – Sep 30)

You choose the 3 month period you want and the offer you want from double points, triple points, free nights, discount rewards and more.

Loyalty Traveler post – SPG Nice Choice May 1, 2012.

*** Sheraton Club Lounge bookings earn 1,000 bonus points when paid with any American Express card for stays February 21 to May 31, 2012. LT post February 24, 2012.

Wyndham Rewards

*** March 29-July 8, 2012 – Double Points or double miles for first four stays and movie tickets. This offer is for members in US, Canada and Mexico. Loyalty Traveler post April 1, 2012.

**** March 29-July 8, 2012 – Wyndham Rewards 10,000 points every 2 stays, up to 30,000 bonus points after 6 stays. This is a better promotion offer for members who do not reside in US, Canada and Mexico. Loyalty Traveler post April 3, 2012.

5-Star Promotion Scale

Loyalty Traveler ranks the consumer value of some hotel loyalty promotions on a Five–Star Scale.

Five ***** = one of the best hotel loyalty promotions of the year.

Four ****= high value rebate on the cost of hotel stays.

Three ***= good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer

Two **= a bonus value if you play, but not necessarily worth going out of your way.

One *= There is limited or no value. You are likely paying more than the bonus value.

Rate discounts and loyalty program bonuses are two types of hotel chain incentives to consider when booking travel.

Rankings are subjective and subject to change. Your specific travel pattern may result in some promotions ranking more favorably for you.

When assigning a rank I take into consideration the following factors and probably more:

• The opportunity for significantly high-value return on hotel spend in terms of future hotel rebate in free nights and discounted hotel nights.
• Past loyalty program offers and rates for the specific hotel chain and loyalty program.

Loyalty Traveler Update Note: the expanded promotions page April 2012 update will be updated later this week. Today I am busy with Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race Stage 2: San Francisco – Santa Cruz (Aptos).

Readers: Please leave a comment with any promotion links you think should be in the expanded hotel loyalty promotions guide for May to Summer 2012.

There is also Ravella at Lake Las Vegas, a Dolce Hotel, formerly the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas and a small shopping and entertainment center with a casino at that part of the lake, a little over one mile from the Westin Resort. 

Casino MonteLago and MonteLago Village shops and restaurants.

Westin Lake Las Vegas is Point B and Ravella Lake Las Vegas, MonteLago Casino and the Village are Point A. Complimentary shuttle transportation takes guests between the Village area and the Westin Resort.

The lowest rates for this Starwood resort were $169 when I wrote about the hotel in late March. I predicted the rates would drop after the initial rebranding fanfare. The rates are now $99 on weekdays (Sun-Thur) and $129 for weekends through July 31, 2012. 

Rates are prepaid and nonrefundable. $22 per day resort fee additional. 12% hotel tax.

Most dates are available for these special rates at time of posting except:

• May 18-19, 24-26
• June 5-6, 8-9, 22-23
• July 9

Sample weekday rates: June 12-14

• Traditional Room 2 Doubles: $99
• Deluxe Room King or 2 Doubles: $119
• Premium Room King or 2 Doubles: $129
• Junior Suite King with Full Sofa Bed (525 sq. ft): $149

Rates are $30 per night more for Friday and Saturdays for these same room types.

Link: Westin Lake Las Vegas Special Rates

Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck and John Lennon all ended up living in New York.

New York is a foreign land to me. I have spent more time in the vicinity of the Queen’s Buckingham Palace than I have Queens New York. I have walked the Brooklyn Bridge across Las Vegas Boulevard many times, but never stepped foot on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. 

Enter my Amex Stars 25,000 Starpoints sweepstakes on Twitter

This American Express SPG Amex Stars program provides me with some trips to New York later this year. The project also provides my Loyalty Traveler readers the opportunity to win some Starpoints in giveaways throughout 2012. The first Loyalty Traveler Amex Star sweepstakes is for 25,000 points in conjunction with the New York Tribeca Film Festival, the first Amex Stars event I missed due to a commitment in Los Angeles.

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express is sponsoring a prize for one Loyalty traveler reader to receive 25,000 Starpoints.

The Twitter sweepstakes is based around the concept of readers sharing the Starwood Hotel you would most like to visit in New York.

Rules to enter the 25,000 Starpoints Sweepstakes:

1. Follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter.com.

2. Post a tweet sharing which Starwood Hotel in New York you most want to visit. See the list of 19 New York Starwood Hotels at end of this post.

3. Use the hashtag #SPGAMEXin the tweet.

4. Use @LoyaltyTravelerin the tweet. Supposedly this makes it easier for me to see all the entries for when I pick a random winner.

5. Eligible entries accepted from 10:00 am Pacific time Monday, April 30 through 10:00 am Pacific time Friday, May 11, 2012.

The Loyalty Traveler SPG Amex Star 25,000 points sweepstakes entry period will run 12 days, the same length as the Tribeca Film Festival April 18-29, 2012.

6. Prize winner will be chosen at random. You can tweet one entry per calendar day of the contest for 12 entries total.

7. Make sure to include a New York Starwood Hotel, #SPGAmex and @LoyaltyTraveler.

Sample Eligible Tweet:

@LoyaltyTraveler W New York Times Square #SPGAMEX

Cheat sheet for Starwood Hotels In New York (with NY city address).

There are 37 Starwood Hotelslisted when you search New York, New York on spg.com. The 19 hotels listed below are within the New York city limits. Your tweet should include one of these 19 hotels.

1. W New York Times Square

2. The Chatwal, New York City

3. The Westin New York at Times Square

4. The Manhattan at Times Square Hotel

5. Four Points by Sheraton Midtown – Times Square

6. Element New York Times Square West

7. Sheraton New York Hotel

8. Le Parker Meridien New York

9. The St. Regis New York

10. W New York

11. The New York Helmsley Hotel

12. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea

13. W New York – Union Square

14. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan SoHo Village

15. Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel

16. W New York – Downtown

17. Aloft Harlem

18. Aloft New York Brooklyn

19. Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel

Please tell me about your New York.

Please leave a tip or advice on this blog post if you know New York and have some good travel information to share with me. Commenting here won’t help you in the Twitter sweepstakes, but seriously, I have only been to New York City one time in my life in the year 2000 and I didn’t do much while there except hang out in a Starwood Hotel, Sheraton Russell, and that property has been demolished.

I’d love to read your New York insights as a newbie experiencing New York this year.

Related Post:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2012/04/30/i-am-a-spg-amex-star-and-loyalty-traveler-25000-starpoints-sweepstakes-on-twitter/

Blogger Disclosure: The 25,000 Starpoints Twitter Sweepstakes and this post are sponsored posts by American Express Starwood Preferred Guest as part of my participation in the 2012 Amex Stars program.

No changes are allowed to your 3-month promotion period or your earning choice after you register. Take your time and evaluate the choices for the one that best fits your travel plans.

You have until June 30, 2012 to register for this promotion and all your eligible paid Starwood Hotel stays from May 1 until promotion registration date count.

Consider the options carefully.

Here are the 11 SPG Nice Choice earning options:

1. Double Starpoints beginning with 2nd stay. Good offer if you are a high spender and will not stay 15 nights for Triple Points.
2. 3,000 Bonus Starpoints every 6 nights. Maximum 9,000 bonus points after 18 nights.
3. Triple Starpoints after 15 nights for all stays during three months you choose for this promotion. 3x points applied retroactively to all stays. Best deal for high spenders with 15 nights.
4. 500 Starpoints for every paid night stayed at Sheraton.
5. Free Weekend Night at Category 1-5 Hotel earned every ten (10) paid nights. Maximum is two certificates after 20 nights. This choice has leverage potential for a low spender. Potential to earn $350 free night for about $800 to $1,000 in hotel spend. The certificate expires December 23, 2012.
6. 25% off Starpoints Redemption Award after 20 nights valid for category 1-5 hotels. Maximum earning is two certificates. I do not think this is a good value award offer since it is restricted to category 5 hotels, stays of up to five nights, and is not applicable for a discount on the regular 5th Night Free award pricing. This means the highest value for this certificate is a category 5 peak season stay of 3 or 4 nights. Category 5 in low season is 12,000 points per night or 16,000 points in peak season. The best savings with the 25% off award certificate is a 12,000 to 16,000 points savings on a Category 5 hotel stay of four nights. Use the 25% discount certificate for five nights and 25% off is a marginal discount compared to the normally available 5th Night Free 20% off reward. Category 5 hotel for 5 nights is 45,000 (low) to 60,000 (peak) Starpoints with this 25% discount. The same hotel would be slightly higher at 48,000 (low) or 64,000 (peak) using a 5th night free award. The 25% off certificate expires December 23, 2012.
7. US $50 SPG Award Certificate after 4 nights. Maximum 3 certificates after 12 nights.
8. US$50 or €50 Westin Home Collection Discount Code. Maximum 3 certificates after 12 nights.
9. US$50 or €50 Sheraton At Home Discount Code. Maximum 3 certificates after 12 nights.
10. Elite Qualifying Night every 5 nights. Maximum 3 elite qualifying nights. Note: These only count as one elite night and do not count as one elite stay.
11. Three Elite Qualifying Nights every 10 nights. Maximum 9 elite qualifying nights.

This Loyalty Traveler post looks at the remaining five Nice Choices for Elite Status Credit and Merchandise Award options. All these choices are based on paid hotel stays. SPG Award stays and SPG Cash & Points stays do not count for earning these bonuses.

Nice Choice #7 – US $50 SPG Award Certificate after 4 nights. Maximum 3 certificates after 12 nights.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn (1) US$50 SPG Award Certificate with four (4) eligible paid nights, up to a maximum of three (3) US$50 Awards after twelve (12) eligible paid nights. Nights do not have to be consecutive and can be accumulated across multiple stays. Eligible paid nights must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. SPG Award Certificate(s) earned will arrive 4–6 weeks after the promotion earning period has ended as selected by the member. SPG Award Certificate(s) will be sent to the member’s mailing address on file. To update your mailing address, go to spg.com. Members living in China will be asked to enter the address they want the certificate shipped to during registration. SPG Award Certificate(s) may be used toward any goods and services that are charged to your folio at a Starwood Preferred Guest participating hotel by the expiration date; this excludes alcoholic beverages. SPG Award Certificate(s) must be redeemed by December 31, 2012. Upon checkout, the face value of the certificate will be applied to your folio. SPG Award Certificates are not redeemable for cash. No cash or credit will be given for any unused portion of any certificate surrendered. When the SPG Award Certificate is redeemed outside of the United States, currency conversion rates of the day will be utilized and confirmed by the hotel. Certificate must be surrendered to the hotel at time of use. SPG Award Certificates may not be duplicated, may not be accepted if altered in any way, and may not be replaced if lost, stolen or expired. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take: This is a decent offer if you happen to have a single four night stay planned at a Starwood Hotel brand other than Sheraton. You might want to go for the 500 points per night at Sheraton deal if you will be staying there and get 2,000 bonus points. This option seems best for a one time stay person who will not have enough nights or stays to get better value through another choice.

Nice Choice #8 – US$50 or €50 Westin Home Collection Discount Code after 4 nights. Maximum 3 certificates after 12 nights.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn one (1) US$50 or €50 Westin Home Collection discount code with four (4) eligible paid nights, up to a maximum of three (3) discount codes after twelve (12) eligible paid nights. Nights do not have to be consecutive and can be accumulated across multiple stays. Eligible paid nights must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. Westin Home Collection discount code(s) will be sent within 4 weeks after the promotion earning period ends, as selected by the member. Codes will be sent via email to the email address provided by the member during registration. Discount codes are in U.S. dollars or Euros, as selected by the member during registration. Codes in U.S. dollars may only be used at westin-hotelsathome.com, while discount codes in Euros may be used at europe.westin-hotelsathome.com. Code(s) must be used no later than December 31, 2012. Each code can be applied to one maximum order. Unused portions of the discount code are forfeited. Members may combine up to three (3) discount codes to be used for one purchase, but codes earned through this promotion are not combinable with any other Westin Home Collection offers or promotions. Codes may be applied to shipping and tax charges. Shipping charges will vary by country. Westin Home Collection does not ship to Russia. International charges could apply on merchandise purchase. See westin-hotelsathome.com for details. All questions regarding Westin Home Collection should be directed to (877) 777-5418 in the U.S. or +33 1 41 51 5155 outside the U.S. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take: This is a decent offer if you happen to have a single four night stay planned at a Starwood Hotel brand other than Sheraton. This option seems best for a one or two stay person who will not have enough nights or stays to get better value through another choice. I would go for the $50 Starwood credit over these merchandise certificates since the terms indicate they may not be combined with other discounts. Seems like that would prohibit their use when the Westin store runs one of their promotional discount codes.

Nice Choice #9 – US$50 or €50 Sheraton At Home Discount code after 4 nights. Maximum 3 certificates after 12 nights.

My Take: Same take as for the Westin Store.

Nice Choice #10 – One Elite Qualifying Night every 5 nights. Maximum earning is 3 elite credit nights after 15 nights.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn one (1) bonus Elite Qualifying Night toward elite status after every five (5) eligible paid nights, up to a maximum of three (3) bonus Elite Qualifying Nights after fifteen (15) eligible paid nights. Nights do not have to be consecutive and can be accumulated across multiple stays. Eligible paid nights must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. Bonus Elite Qualifying Nights will be credited to the member’s account in October 2012, after the end of all promotional earning periods, regardless of the promotion earning period selected by the member. Bonus Elite Qualifying Nights given as part of this promotion do not count toward SPG Lifetime™ nights qualification. Bonus Elite Qualifying Nights do count toward annual elite qualification earnings and toward achieving nights based benefits at 50, 75, and 100 nights annually. No bonus elite stay credit is given as part of this promotion. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take: The important detail to note here is this offer is for one (1) elite night which is not the same, or as good as, one elite stay. I have never qualified for SPG Platinum on 50 nights. I always made it on 25 stays, and several years those were using Stays Count Double promotions.

SPG Gold takes 10 stays or 25 nights.

SPG Platinum takes 25 stays or 50 nights.

SPG Platinum extra benefits happen at 50, 75 and 100 nights.

One elite night credit will not be much benefit to most SPG members.You can always book a SPG weekend category 2 reward night for 3,000 points and the award night counts as one elite qualifying night and one elite qualifying stay if you are short for status at the end of the year and you get a hotel room night in the process.

The analysis becomes whether you can earn more than 3,000 points with 5 nights or 9,000 points with 15 nights. One other SPG Nice Choice is 3,000 points every 6 nights and triple points after 15 nights is likely at least 8,000 bonus points.

Nice Choice #11 – Three (3) Elite Qualifying Night every 10 nights. Maximum earning is 6 elite credit nights after 20 nights.

Members may choose to register to earn three (3) bonus Elite Qualifying Nights toward elite status after every ten (10) eligible paid nights, up to a maximum of six (6) Elite Qualifying Nights after twenty (20) eligible paid nights. Nights do not have to be consecutive and can be accumulated across multiple stays. Eligible paid nights must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. Bonus Elite Qualifying Nights will be credited to the member’s account in October 2012, after the end of all promotional earning periods, regardless of the promotion earning period selected by the member. Bonus Elite Qualifying Nights given as part of this promotion do not count toward SPG Lifetime™ nights qualification. Bonus Elite Qualifying Nights do count toward annual elite qualification earnings and toward achieving nights based benefits at 50, 75, and 100 nights annually. No bonus elite stay credit is given as part of this promotion. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take:This is a better offer than Choice #10 for 2 elite night credits after 12 paid nights. Personally I would rather earn points and spend those points for award stays like a weekend category 2 hotel or Cash & Points where $60 per night and 4,000 points can buy a high-end category 4 hotel room or a 5th night free stay to earn elite night credits.

SPG Nice Choice promotion offers 11 earning options for your choice of promotion period from May 1-July 31 or June 1-August 31 or July 1-September 30, 2012. Register by June 30, 2012.

• May 1 – July 31
• June 1 – August 31
• July 1 – September 30

The rules indicate that your stay activity applies retroactively once you register and pick a promotion period. By June 30 you should know how you match up for May 1 – July 31 and June 1 – August 31 periods based on the hotel stays you completed and the hotel stays you plan.

My strategy is to pick the best earning choices for my travel and keep that in mind as I make Starwood stays. By June 30 I will have a good idea of which bonuses are within reach and then compare the bonus value with my Starwood stay pattern.

I just have to remember to register for SPG Nice Choice by June 30.

The SPG Earning Choices

There are 11 different earning choices for SPG Nice Choice. You cannot change your earning option once you select a choice which is why I favor waiting until late June to register for SPG Nice Choice, if like me, you do not have your summer travel plans set at this time.

This post covers the six bonus points and free night offers. I analyze the elite credit and gift certificate offers in this follow-up post SPG Nice Choice Elite Credit, Hotel Credit and Merchandise.

1. Double Starpoints beginning with second stay. Minimum of 2 stays to earn any bonus with this choice.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn double Starpoints beginning with their second eligible paid stay. First eligible paid stay during the earning period does not earn a bonus. Eligible paid stays must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. Members who earn double Starpoints will earn an additional two Starpoints per eligible US$1 spent (for a total of four Starpoints per dollar). Elite level extra Starpoints earnings are not doubled. Only the base 2 Starpoints per dollar earnings are doubled. There is no limit to the number of bonus Starpoints that can be earned during the promotion earning period. Bonus Starpoints will be credited to the member’s account within 2–4 weeks of the stay posting to the member’s Starwood Preferred Guest account. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take: Double Starpoints favors high spenders. The good value here is there is no earning limit and the bonus is earned starting with the second hotel stay in your three month promotion period.

Personally I evaluate this as if I stay 10 nights and spend $1,000 at Starwood Hotels, then my bonus is only 2,000 points for $1,000 in hotel spend. Poor choice for my travel pattern.

2. Earn 3,000 Bonus Starpoints each 6 paid nights. Minimum 6 nights to earn any bonus with this choice. Maximum earning 9,000 bonus points after 18 nights.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn 3,000 bonus Starpoints after every six (6) eligible paid nights, up to a maximum of 9,000 bonus Starpoints after 18 paid nights. Eligible paid nights must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Nights do not have to be consecutive and can be accumulated across multiple stays. Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. Bonus Starpoints will be credited to the member’s account within 2–4 weeks of the stay posting to the member’s Starwood Preferred Guest account that has 6th, 12th, and 18th eligible night. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take:This choice favors longer hotel stays or low-cost one-night stays. This offer will allow me to earn 500 bonus points per night if I complete 6 or 12 nights during the promotion period. That is not much of a bonus for lots of one-night stays. This is a better deal if staying 5 or 6 nights somewhere and spend is too low to make double points a better deal.

$150 per night x 6 nights = $900 and earns 3,000 bonus points. This is still relatively low value in my analysis.

3. Triple Starpoints after 15 nights. Minimum 15 nights during promotion period to earn any bonus with this choice. Maximum bonus is unlimited.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn triple Starpoints on all eligible stays once they have stayed 15 eligible paid nights. Bonus is retroactive to all eligible paid stays during the earning period once the member completes 15 eligible paid nights. Nights do not have to be consecutive and can be accumulated across multiple stays. Eligible paid stays and nights must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. Members who earn triple Starpoints will earn an additional four Starpoints per eligible US$1 spent (for a total of six (6) Starpoints per dollar). Elite level extra Starpoints earnings are not tripled. Only the base 2 Starpoints per dollar earnings are tripled. There is no limit to the number of bonus Starpoints that can be earned during the promotion period. Bonus Starpoints will start being credited to the member’s account within 2–4 weeks of the stay posting to the member’s Starwood Preferred Guest account that comprises the 15th eligible paid night. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take on Triple Points:This bonus is the most lucrative for high spenders. The bonus applies retroactively to all stays during promotion period. Assume $5,000 in hotel spend and this offer earns an extra 4 points/$1 for 20,000 bonus points.

Assume a low spend of $100 per night average and $1,500 in spend earns 6,000 bonus points. Low spenders would do better with 3,000 bonus points for every 6 nights and it will only take 12 nights to earn 6,000 bonus points.

4. 500 bonus Starpoints per night at Sheraton hotels and resorts

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn 500 bonus Starpoints per eligible paid night at Sheraton Hotels and Resorts worldwide. Eligible paid nights must be at Sheraton hotels that participate in the SPG program during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options) and the stays must be booked online at either spg.com, Sheraton.com, or Starwoodhotels.comwebsites. Stays booked through other channels, including the Starwood customer contact center, are not eligible for the bonus Starpoints. Bonus Starpoints will be credited to the member’s account within 2–4 weeks of the Sheraton stay posting to the member’s Starwood Preferred Guest account. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take on Sheraton 500 points – this is brand limiting. This will be a good deal if you plan to spend a lot of nights in Sheraton. This is an option I would definitely wait on and see how travel plans work out. The value of this option is for someone with only one or two stays and no plans to stay at least 6 nights for the #2 choice for 3,000 bonus points for 6 nights. This is the choice if you only have one or two Starwood stays planned and they will be at a Sheraton.

5. Free Weekend Night after 10 paid nights. Maximum 2 free nights after 20 paid nights.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn one (1) Free Weekend Night in a standard room at a Category 1–5 hotel or resort after ten (10) eligible paid nights, up to a maximum of two Free Weekend Nights after 20 eligible paid nights. Eligible paid stay(s) must be at SPG participating properties during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options). Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. Free Weekend Night(s) Awards must be redeemed and used by December 23, 2012, for any Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night, and can be redeemed by calling your local SPG Customer Contact Center and mentioning Free Weekend Night Award ID NCHFN. Free Weekend Night Award stay(s) and night(s) will count toward elite earning qualification. Free Weekend Night Award(s) are combinable and may be added to existing paid or Award stays; however, the Free Weekend Night Awards are nontransferable and may not be given as gifts. Unused Awards are forfeited. Free Weekend Night Awards will post to the member’s account within 2–3 weeks of the eligible paid stays comprising the 10th and 20th nights posting to the member’s account. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take on Free Weekend Night

I think this is the highest potential value choice for a low spender. The restriction to category 1-5 definitely is a promotion value drop from the last two years when category 6 hotels were in the mix. This is a return to pre-2009 when category 6 hotels were never in the mix for free night promotions.

This offer is likely a 12,000 points value after 10 nights or even 16,000 points for a SPG category 5 hotel in peak season.

Back to my example of $100 per night means this offer is pulling in the equivalent of 1,200 bonus points per night once you reach the 10 night threshold. If you are a low spender and can reach 10 nights with Starwood, then this is a good offer. I will probably take this choice, but I want to be sure I have ten nights planned first.

6. 25%-Off Starpoints Redemption Award with 20 paid nights. Maximum of two 25% off awards after 40 nights.

SPG Terms: Members may choose to register to earn one (1) 25%-off Starpoints redemption Award with 20 eligible paid nights during the three-month promotion earning period as selected by the member (see “all offer terms” for a list of earning period options), up to a maximum of two (2) awards after 40 eligible paid nights during the promotion earning period as selected by the member. Eligible paid nights must be at SPG participating properties. Non-participating properties can be found at spg.com/t&c, section 1.2. 25%-off Starpoints Redemption Award(s) must be redeemed and used by December 23, 2012. Offer is nontransferable. Starwood Preferred Guest members must call 1-888-625-4991 or their nearest Starwood Preferred Guest Customer Contact Center and mention Award ID NCH. Each 25%-off Redemption Award may be redeemed for one stay at a Category 1–5 hotel or resort for up to a five-night stay. This 25%-off Starpoints Redemption Award excludes Category 6 and 7 properties, 5th Night Free, and Upgrade Awards. 25%-off Starpoints Redemption Awards and “no blackout dates” apply to standard room categories only. 25%-off Starpoints Redemption Award stays will count toward elite qualification. Member forfeits percent-off redemption when modifying award reservation outside the offer dates. If a percent-off redemption award is cancelled, only the number of Starpoints used by the member to redeem the 25%-off Starpoints Redemption Award will be credited to the member’s account. Awards will post to the member’s account within one (1) week of the eligible paid stays comprising the 20th and 40th nights posting to the member’s account. Advance reservations required. See “All Offers” below for additional terms and conditions.

My Take on 25% off SPG Redemption Award

20 nights? Are you kidding me?

This would be a deal worth considering if there were not so many limitations like:

• limited to a 5-night stay
• 5th night free not eligible for 25% discount.
• category 6 and 7 hotels excluded.
• must be redeemed by December 23, 2012.

Since the 25% off does not apply for a 5th night free award stay, then you are paying 45,000 points for a 5-night stay using the 25% off redemption at a category-5 hotel rather than 48,000 points. You save 3,000 points after 20 paid nights at Starwood. You get better value with a 3 or 4-night stay where you might save 9,000 to 16,000 points at a category 5 hotel.

This choice sucks. 

You can get two free weekend nights for the same number of 20 nights with Choice #5. That is a 24,000 points value.

This is primarily the choice for the uber-Platinums who can count the discounted award stays toward elite.

I remember once (around 2003?) getting a Platinum recognition gift from SPG for 50% off SPG Redemption Award and that deal saved me 20,000 points on a 5-night stay.

I cover the SPG Nice Choice gift certificates and elite credit choices in this post:

SPG Nice Choice – Elite Credit, Hotel Credit and Merchandise.

The SPG Amex Star gig does not come with a star on Hollywood Boulevard and I missed my film festival debut in New York, but seriously, you can still win 25,000 Starpoints from my Loyalty Traveler SPG Amex Star giveaway through Twitter. More details on that below, but first I want to talk a little bit about being one of five bloggers selected to be a SPG Amex Star and the Tribeca Film Festival.

You don’t have to be a star baby, just a Starwood Preferred Guest member to win in my show.

What is an SPG Amex Star?

Starwood Preferred Guest and American Express offer a co-branded credit card. As an SPG Amex Star I will be sponsored by SPG American Express along with some other bloggers including Johnny Jet, Lucky of One Mile at a Time, Jen Miner of The Vacation Gals to participate in some events including the US Open Tennis, New York Fashion Week and a trip to the new St. Regis Bal Harbour Miami Beach. The sponsors fly me from California to these places and I will blog about them.

Part of my obligation is to write about these experiences and the SPG American Express card benefits and give away prizes to my readers including 210,000 Starpoints and a $250 gift card between now and December 31, 2012.

Let me repeat the best part:

I get to give away six prizes to my readers totaling 210,000 Starpoints and a $250 gift card through periodic sweepstakes opportunities in 2012.

The first prize giveaway is 25,000 points through a Twitter giveaway based on Starwood Hotels in New York. Keep reading as you need to slog through this blog post to get more Twitter sweepstakes details.

Here are the reasons I decided to participate as an SPG Amex Star:

• Prize winners only need to be a Starwood Preferred Guest member and not a SPG American Express card member to claim prize giveaways through the six corresponding Loyalty Traveler sweepstakes offers for Starpoints and a gift card.
• I have been a SPG American Express card member since 2001 and a Starwood Hotels Platinum member from 2003-2011. I like Starwood Hotels and I see value in the SPG Amex card. Sadly I dropped to SPG Gold for 2012. I hope this is a temporary elite downgrade. The SPG Amex Star gig offers complimentary SPG Gold, but I had already qualified the regular way with my hotel stays in 2011.
• My analysis shows there is good value in having a SPG American Express card from 5 nights and 2 stays annual elite credit to the 1 point per $1 earning rate on all spend and 2 points per $1 earning rate on Starwood Hotels spend. Nearly every year I qualified for SPG Platinum with the minimum 25 stays. I frequently find myself hotel hopping the last week of December to make status. Two hotel stays elite credit with the SPG Amex credit is typically at least a $200 value for hotel stays I can skip in my travel plans and still earn SPG elite from annual Starwood Hotel stays.
• And just today I learned from Mommy Points that attendees of the Frequent Traveler University voted the SPG Amex “Best Credit Card in the Galaxy” award winner.

11th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, New York

First up in this SPG Amex Star gig is New York and the Tribeca Film Festival. Unfortunately, the Tribeca Film Festival ended yesterday which means that I am writing this post primarily for you readers who might be interested in picking up an easy 25,000 Starpoints.

I really enjoy films, particularly documentaries. My wife likes to be entertained and feel happy at the end of a film. I like to see slices of life and how people live, work, struggle and find pleasure with their daily lives. The film winners below all sound like movie time not wasted and I hope to see some of these films broadcast on Sundance Channel or one of the other movie stations or PBS over the next year.

2012 Tribeca Film Festival Winners for Narrative and Documentary Films

War Witch – the story of a 14-year old girl kidnapped from her African village and forced to be a child soldier. Rachel Mwanza, the lead character, was not a professional actress. Filmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and based on a real story that took place in Burma.

• 2012 World Narrative Competition Award Winner.
• 2012 Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film Award Winner – Rachel Mwanza as Komona.

The World Before Her – a documentary about young women participating in the Miss India beauty pageant in India juxtaposed with women from the Hindu fundamentalist movement.

• 2012 World Documentary Competition Award Winner.

Una Noche – A film about poor youth working in the tourist industry in Havana, Cuba who consider leaving for Miami. Apparently this film has beautiful imagery of Havana. I love seeing places in film. Director Lucy Mulloy lived in Havana for several years researching this film. Una Noche won multiple awards including:

• 2012 Best New Narrative Director Award Winner – Lucy Mulloy.
• 2012 Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film Award Winner.
• 2012 Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film Award Winner – Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nuñez Florian as Raul and Elio.

Wavumba – A documentary about Kenya fishermen by Dutch filmmaker Jeroen van Velzen.

• 2012 Best New Documentary Director Award Winner – Jeroen van Velzen.

My SPG Amex Star 25,000 Starpoints Twitter Sweepstakes

Monday, April 30 – Friday, May 11 Entry Period

I missed my portion of the SPG Amex Star treatment at the Tribeca Film Festival last week due to my previously booked engagement in Los Angeles. I have only been to New York once in my life back in the year 2000. I stayed in Manhattan at the Starwood Sheraton Russell Hotel. That property was torn down and replaced with a condominium building in the past decade.

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express is sponsoring a prize for one Loyalty traveler reader to receive 25,000 Starpoints.

The Twitter sweepstakes is based around the concept of readers sharing the Starwood Hotel you would most like to visit in New York.

Rules to enter the 25,000 Starpoints Sweepstakes:

1. Follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter.com.

2. Post a tweet sharing which Starwood Hotel in New York you most want to visit. See the list of 19 New York Starwood Hotels at end of this post.

3. Use the hashtag #SPGAMEX in the tweet.

4. Use @LoyaltyTraveler in the tweet. Supposedly this makes it easier for me to see all the entries for when I pick a random winner.

5. Eligible entries accepted from 10:00 am Pacific time Monday, April 30 through 10:00 am Pacific time Friday, May 11, 2012.

The Loyalty Traveler SPG Amex Star 25,000 points sweepstakes entry period will run 12 days, the same length as the Tribeca Film Festival April 18-29, 2012.

6. Prize winner will be chosen at random. You can tweet one entry per calendar day of the contest for 12 entries total.

7.

Sample Eligible Tweet:

@LoyaltyTraveler W New York Times Square #SPGAMEX

Here are some Twitter Guidelines I read over to help with this sweepstakes:

• Creating multiple accounts on Twitter to win a contest can result in all your Twitter accounts being suspended. I discourage you from doing this.
• Posting the same tweet over and over is discouraged by Twitter. Try and change up the order of words or hotel. One #SPGAMEX tweet per calendar day for my Loyalty Traveler sweepstakes is acceptable. Posting more than one tweet per calendar day for this contest is discouraged and may result in your elimination from the prize.
• Include @LoyaltyTraveler in your tweet so I can easily filter the tweets to pick a winner.

Cheat sheet for Starwood Hotels In New York (with NY city address).

There are 37 Starwood Hotels listed when you search New York, New York on spg.com. The 19 hotels listed below are within the New York city limits. Your tweet should include one of these 19 hotels.

1. W New York Times Square

2. The Chatwal, New York City

3. The Westin New York at Times Square

4. The Manhattan at Times Square Hotel

5. Four Points by Sheraton Midtown – Times Square

6. Element New York Times Square West

7. Sheraton New York Hotel

8. Le Parker Meridien New York

9. The St. Regis New York

10. W New York

11. The New York Helmsley Hotel

12. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea

13. W New York – Union Square

14. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan SoHo Village

15. Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel

16. W New York – Downtown

17. Aloft Harlem

18. Aloft New York Brooklyn

19. Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel

Blogger Disclosure: Just in case you missed it earlier in the post, this is a sponsored post for Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card by American Express who has donated the 25,000 points for a Loyalty Traveler SPG Amex Star Twitter Sweepstakes in conjunction with Starwood Hotels and the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.

Also, please note that since this is my first sweepstakes as a SPG Amex Star, hopefully I have done everything correctly in writing about this sweepstakes. Please be understanding if I need to change any details about this giveaway after posting. This is a learning experience for me. Good luck to all the entrants.

• Le Club Accor
• Club Carlson*
• Hilton HHonors
• Hyatt Gold Passport*
• InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
• Marriott Rewards*
• Shangri-La Golden Circle
• Starwood Preferred Guest*

* I placed an asterisk next to the four programs I think are the only hotel programs worth using for this bonus offer.

Best exchange rates for hotel points to British Airways Avios points including the 25% bonus:

1. Marriott Rewards (at 125,000 points = 62,500 Avios points)
2. Club Carlson (at 100,000 points = 22,500 Avios Points)
3. SPG (at 20,000 points = 31,250 Avios points)
4. Hyatt Gold Passport (at 50,000 points = 31,250 Avios points)

The exchange rate is lower for each of these programs at other transfer amounts.

Marriott Rewards Hotel + Air Package can improve the exchange rate for Marriott Rewards points to 1 Marriott point = 1.25 Avios points for up to 150,000 Avios points + 7 hotel nights starting at 270,000 Marriott Rewards points.

Transferring Hotel Points between Hotel Loyalty Member Accounts

Combining hotel points from different member accounts is a good strategy for reaching the high balance needed to maximize hotel points to airline miles exchange rates.

Club Carlson members can combine points from different accounts at no charge. Club Carlson has the most lenient points transfer rules between member accounts.

Marriott Rewards allows points to be transferred between the accounts of spouses and domestic partners.

SPG requires members to be in same household to transfer points between member accounts.

Hyatt Gold Passport allows two members to combine points when redeeming points for a hotel award. I don’t think you can combine points from different member accounts to redeem for airline miles. Please leave a comment if you think you can combine points for hotel points to airline miles redemption.

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.