Starwood Preferred Guest has outlined a good balance of new benefits to recognize its frequent guest elite members. The changes coming March 1, 2012 reward hotel loyalty with enhanced upgrade benefits for more frequent SPG Platinum elite members.

SPG Benefits website presentation.

SPG Elite Table of Benefits.

SPG Benefits FAQ.

Overview of SPG Elite Changes

SPG Gold members

· Hotel Stay Welcome Gift – Choose from Starpoints (up to 250 points/stay) or free internet or free beverage.

· Lifetime SPG Gold elite membership earned after 250 nights and 5 years as SPG elite member. Award nights from October 1, 2011 onward count.

SPG Platinum members

· Hotel Stay Welcome Gift – Choose from Continental Breakfast for entire stay or Starpoints (up to 500/stay) or local gift.

· 50+ nights Platinum members only – 10 Suite Night Awards. This is in addition to the existing and continuing policy of complimentary upgrades upon arrival for SPG Platinum elites that has been a long time competitive edge of Starwood preferred Guest.

· 75+ nights Platinum members only – Earn 4 points per dollar on hotel spend. Lower tier Platinum members earn 3 points/$1 on hotel spend.

· 75+ nights Platinum members only – Your24 check-in at any hour and maintain room for 24 hours. Check in at 9pm and the room is yours until 9pm 24 hours later.

· 100+ nights Platinum members only – Personal Starwood Hotels Ambassador to help travel planning.

· Lifetime SPG Platinum elite membership earned after 500 nights and 10 years Platinum elite status. Award nights from October 1, 2011 onward count. SPG American Express 5 annual nights credit will not count for Lifetime elite nights. Years of Platinum Elite status earned as a benefit of American Express Centurion credit card membership will count.

· NOTE: Members who achieved the 50 or more nights Platinum thresholds in 2011 will receive their new benefits March 1, 2012.

Read More…

Starwood Preferred Guest has announced a new member benefit effective October 1, 2011 SPG award stays and nights count for elite status qualification toward the calendar year requirement of 10 stays or 25 nights for SPG Gold elite membership and 25 stays or 50 nights for SPG Platinum membership. All award stays including nights on points, Cash & Points award stays, and free nights earned from promotions like this year’s Stay 3 and earn one free Starwood Resort night count as elite qualifying stays and nights.

Award Stays Count for Elite

• Free Nights on SPG Points
• SPG Cash & Points Awards
• Free Nights earned from SPG Promotions
• SPG 5th Night Free Awards count as 5 elite nights.
• Only SPG award stays and nights with check-out date October 2, 2011 or later will count. No retroactive credit for 2011.
• SPG Award stays gifted to another member will be elite qualifying stays for the member who stays on the award and no elite status for the member who gifts the award.

This announcement may be old news to many readers who saw a wikileaks-type pre-release from our own Julian Assange-like hero for the travel loyalty program world. Gary Leff broke the SPG news on Monday, September 26 and then backed up his source in writing when he published a confidential SPG memo to Starwood Hotels General Managers on his View from the Wing blog on Tuesday, September 27.

Starwood Preferred Guest officially announced the new SPG member benefit on Wednesday, September 27 with its webpage “Award Nights Count“.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

SPG members who regularly earn SPG Platinum with 25 paid stays or 50 paid nights are concerned this change will add competition for suite upgrades from more new Platinum members reaching Platinum elite qualification levels through award stays.

Here are links to FlyerTalk and MilePoint threads discussing the award stays count change.

Some SPG members speculate this change may result in SPG establishing a new higher tier above Platinum elite.

Personally, I like this change for Starwood Preferred Guest.

I have had more than a dozen award stays using SPG points and Cash & Points and SPG promotion award nights in the past year. Too bad this program change isn’t retroactive for all of calendar year 2011.

The change will also be useful for SPG credit card holders who can now redeem Cash & Points awards and Standard Awards while earning elite qualification credit. SPG Cash & Points awards require only 40% of the standard award points cost when supplemented with cash.

Gifting SPG Awards

The one term of the new policy that has an interesting new effect is when an SPG member gifts an award stay to another SPG member. I generally gift some Starwood award stays to my parents each year.

Hypothetically a person could be gifted one SPG award stay from 25 different SPG members and qualify for SPG Platinum without ever having spent a penny at a Starwood Hotel. A popular person could become loyalty royalty with SPG on the cheap.

Finding yourself short of elite qualifying stays or nights can be remedied with a little help from your friends and family to get you those few stays needed to make the elite threshold without a big outlay of cash.

Anyone want to sponsor a hotel stay for this loyalty traveler?

SPG American Express Credit Card factor

SPG members with the SPG American Express card automatically receive elite qualification credit each year with two elite stays and 5 elite nights being a complimentary benefit as a cardmember. This means SPG American Express cardmembers need only earn 8 stays or 20 nights in a calendar year to reach SPG Gold and 23 stays or 45 nights to reach SPG Platinum.

SPG members can double up the credit card elite qualification credits by having both an SPG personal American Express card and SPG Business AmEx card to jumpstart elite qualification each year with four elite stays and 10 elite nights.

SPG credit card elite stays and nights credit combined with award stays and nights and the ability to use a family member or friend’s points and receive additional elite credit for award stays gifted from another SPG member provide plenty of opportunities to reach SPG elite with minimal cash outlay.

Cash & Points Awards

The combination of SPG Cash & Points awards and Award Stays Count for Elite sets up an interesting price point for meeting elite qualification with relatively low annual hotel spend.

The cost to reach SPG Platinum elite is potentially as low as $625 and 30,000 points for someone spending 25 award stays on Cash & Points at a category 1 hotel. But that is not really a practical hotel stay pattern unless you are in some specific places in Asia. Cash & Points awards for Category 1 and 2 hotels in the U.S. are seldom offered in my experience searching hotel rates in the U.S. since these awards were introduced for U.S. hotels early 2010. This change to count award stays for elite qualifying credit probably won’t help expand the Cash & Points availability for U.S. category 1 and 2 hotels.

Category 3 and Category 4 hotels are a viable option for finding widespread Cash & Points availability in the U.S.

Qualifying for SPG Elite on One-Night Cash & Points Award Stays

The SPG Cash & Points chart above shows the cost to reach SPG Gold or SPG Platinum solely through one-night stays (10 or 25 nights) or 50 nights on Cash & Points awards.

Earning SPG Platinum only on award stays for a U.S. member who likely needs to be staying at Category 3 and 4 hotels to realistically make this work for Cash & Points hotel stays in the U.S. still needs $1,125 and 70,000 points at Category 3 hotels or $1,500 plus 100,000 points for 25 nights on Category 4 Cash & Points awards.

Earning 70,000 to 100,000 points in a year is an achievement that will be limited mostly to SPG American Express credit card holders making 5-digit charges annually. Anyone earning those kinds of points with hotel stays likely already earns SPG Platinum elite from paid stays.

For the rest of us, award stays will likely offer the ability to pick up a few additional elite qualifying stays and nights per year.

I figure I can probably earn about 20,000 to 30,000 Starpoints per year from 15 hotel stays if the promotions are good and I pick up a few Best Rate Guarantee bonuses. I have the SPG American Express card so that is another two stays. And I typically have about 8 SPG award stays per year which I can likely sustain with the points earned from about 15 paid stays. The cost to maintain SPG Platinum can be around $2,000 a year for me with this award stays count for elite change.

Making top-tier elite is the best advice I can give to loyalty program members. The benefits provided during hotel stays for top-tier elites pays back the effort and loyalty. And I don’t think SPG will be flooded with new Platinum elite members.

If I was a SPG American Express credit card big spender who is not already SPG Platinum, then I think I would really love this change. The SPG Cash & Points award chart above shows how you can turn those points and a bit of cash into elite credit with Cash & Points award stays to reach mid-tier SPG Gold. Top-tier SPG Platinum offers additional hotel stay benefits like free internet and complimentary room upgrades, including suites.

Award Stays Count is not exclusive to SPG

Hilton HHonors has long counted award stays for elite status. This was a great benefit for me for several years when I was funneling hundreds of thousands of airline miles into HHonors points and redeeming dozens of free nights on points every year. Qualifying for HHonors Diamond elite generally required only about 20 paid stays and award stays made up the balance of my elite qualification requirement of 28 stays for HHonors Diamond status.

Choice Privileges added the benefit of counting award nights for elite qualification in January 2010.

Here are some thoughts on maintaining hotel loyalty elite status while traveling in cities of rising rates. STR, the hotel data company for North America, reported average daily rates last week in the U.S. were $154.50 for upper-upscale hotel market segment with occupancy at 78.0%. The luxury hotel market segment had average daily rates of $260.71 with occupancy at a high 77.3%. 

As a leisure traveler over the past decade, I have felt that an adequate annual budget for maintaining top elite status while primarily staying in upper-upscale market segment hotels takes between $3,000 to $4,000 a year. I’ve spent more and I have spent less, but $3,000 is typically around the minimum spend I can expect when planning to earn top elite like SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond or Carlson Concierge elite. 

Marriott will likely take more than $3,000 for Gold elite at 50 nights and much more for Platinum at 75 nights, although elite rollover nights can reduce the annual spend somewhat. Priority Club qualification on points should take far less than $3,000 to earn 60,000 points for Platinum. I requalified for 2012 Priority Club Platinum elite status yesterday after less than $500 in hotel stays in 2011.

My Priority Club account has earned 117,330 points in 2011 and Platinum elite membership is earned with 60,000 points in a calendar year. I have earned Platinum elite status through December 31, 2012 after just 5 paid hotel nights in 2011. 

Maintaining hotel elite status in a city of rising rates

Upper-upscale market segment hotels like full service Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt and Starwood properties will frequently have rates in the range of $150 to $200 per night. 

The highest rates might be during midweek nights like in downtown San Francisco where business travelers and convention goers fill hotels on high rates. The highest hotel rates may be weekend nights like in my hometown of Monterey where many Californians come to vacation on weekends. 

$150 to $200 per night hotels on a $3,000 to $4,000 budget gets you 15 to 26 nights a year in hotels. It is tough to earn top-level elite status with fewer than 30 nights a year in hotels unless you only do one-night stays. 

Most hotel loyalty programs qualify members for elite status by either nights or hotel stays. Carlson, Hilton, Hyatt and Starwood require fewer stays than nights for elite qualification. 

Top-Tier Elite Qualification Published Requirements (in a calendar year)

• Marriott Rewards Platinum = 75 Nights
• Club Carlson Concierge Elite = 30 Stays or 75 Nights
• Hilton HHonors Diamond = 28 Stays or 60 Nights or 100,000 base points ($10,000 hotel spend)
• Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond = 25 stays or 50 nights
• Starwood Preferred Guest = 25 stays or 50 nights 
• InterContinental Royal Ambassador has unpublished qualification terms which are generally reported to be around 50 to 60 nights in IHG brand hotels with stays in at least 3 different InterContinental Hotels in a 12-month period of Ambassador paid membership.

I have met many business travelers who spend 40 to 50 nights a year in hotels and never have attained top elite status. Most business travelers average two or three night stays. If you spend 60 nights a year in hotels with 20 hotel stays and 42 nights Hilton and 18 nights in Marriott, then your HHonors Gold and Marriott Silver elite receives minor attention compared to what you would likely experience as HHonors Diamond. 

The leisure traveler spending $3K to $4K can have four or five extended stay vacations a year staying in nice upper-upscale hotels at $150 to $200 per night. Most of my friends fall in this category of travelers who pay high rates in desirable places and never qualify for more than low-level elite hotel loyalty membership.

My objective throughout the year is finding upper-upscale hotels where my average daily paid rate is well below the average $155 per night for a U.S. upper upscale hotel. I regularly find upper upscale hotels in the $100 range during slow business and low occupancy periods. This allows me to stay 30 to 40 paid nights and the ability to maintain top-elite status with good elite benefits and hotel selection whether that loyalty program is Hilton, Hyatt, SPG or another hotel loyalty program.

Typically I spend about 80% of my paid hotel nights in upper-upscale hotels and around 20% in midscale brands like Four Points, Hyatt Place, Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn/Hilton Garden Inn.

Conventions and Events are a Leisure Traveler budget buster 

Conferences like the International Pow Wow in San Francisco this past week tend to push the daily hotel rates up to $250 to $300 per night for upper-upscale hotel brands like Hilton, Hyatt Regency, Marriott, and Westin. These high rates force the leisure traveler down to 10 to 16 nights a year if staying within a $3,000 to $4,000 budget. You are severely limited on your ability to earn hotel elite status while staying in the upper-upscale hotel market segment and paying high rates. 

I plan for hotel travel 12 months a year with a goal of maintaining top elite status in at least one program (currently I’m top-elite in four hotel programs). I seldom book a hotel more than one week in advance, but when I see good value hotel deals, like my W Silicon Valley $64 Best Rate Guarantee nights this weekend that I found a few weeks back, I jump on them to earn loyalty points and elite credit stays. 

Then, when I really need a hotel in a specific place like downtown San Francisco last week, I am able to spend points for nice upper-upscale hotel rooms with elite benefits like free internet or free breakfast and free room upgrades. Rates were over $200 and $300 at hotels around Moscone Center during International Pow Wow 2011 travel convention. Rates are about the same next month in downtown Vancouver for the Travel Blog Exchange 2011 conference.  My points earned steadily over the past year allow me to stay in upper upscale hotels in the center of the action at a fraction of the published paid rates by using points awards. 

The fact that most other guests at these hotels are paying $200 to $300 per night does not impact me. I spent $120 and 60,000 Priority Club points to stay two nights at the InterContinental San Francisco and saved nearly $500 on the published lowest rate. I stayed at the Starwood Luxury Collection Palace Hotel on a Cash & Points award and paid $103 (after tax) and 4,800 points to save over $200 on the lowest published rate. My SPG Platinum elite status also waived the $20 daily internet fee at the Palace Hotel. I booked both of these hotels within 24 hours of arrival during one of the year’s biggest conventions in San Francisco.

So if you are one of those high-paying guests during hotel convention times, or even worse, you are staying at the airport and spending two hours a day commuting to and from the city center from your budget hotel…

“Welcome to Loyalty Traveler.” 

This is where you will find tips on getting hotel value for the frequent guest. 

You do not have to book far in advance to get the best hotel rates. You just need to plan far in advance so you have plenty of points and hopefully elite status, rather than plenty of cash to cover your hotel needs when staying in a city of high-rise and high rate hotels.

Article Correction May 31: This post originally listed occupancy for upper-upscale hotel segment incorrectly at 68% rather than 78.0%.  The upper-midscale hotel segment was 68% occupancy.

A change in policy discontinues elite status matches for Starwood Preferred Guest effective April 1. The policy to match comparable top elite levels from competing frequent guest programs like Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport and Marriott Rewards is replaced by a SPG Stay Challenge.

Members seeking a fast-track to SPG Gold (normally 10 stays or 25 nights in calendar year) or SPG Platinum status (normally stays or 50 nights in a calendar year) need to email a request for consideration of a “Stay Challenge” to platinum.liaison@starwoodhotels .

The SPG Platinum “Stay Challenge” criteria reported by several members indicate 15 nights in 90 days to earn SPG Platinum elite. Earning Platinum elite status in 2011 through a Stay Challenge or normal stays/nights qualification will provide elite benefits through February 2013.

I haven’t seen any information yet on the criteria for SPG Gold elite challenge.

Source: FlyerTalk – Starwood policy change related to Status Match Requests Beginning April 1, 2011

Hyatt Trial Diamond elite Offer

Hyatt gave away Gold Passport instant Platinum elite and Diamond elite status for most of 2009 and through mid-May 2010 to anyone who signed up in a series of elite promotions or asked for a status match from a competitor hotel loyalty program.

Hyatt eliminated its fast-track elite status promotion in May 2010, seven months earlier than posted for the promotion end-date. In November 2010 Hyatt stopped elite status matches from other programs.

Now Hyatt Gold Passport offers Hyatt Trial Diamond for members with mid-tier to upper-tier elite in Hilton (Gold/Diamond), Marriott (Gold/Platinum), Starwood (Platinum) and Priority Club (Platinum).

Hyatt Gold Passport requires 12 nights in 60 days after starting the Diamond Trial Challenge to maintain Diamond elite beyond the trial period. Normal qualification criteria for Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond is 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year.

The main difference with Hyatt’s challenge compared to Starwood’s Platinum Challenge is your status is bumped up to Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite during the 60 days of the trial offer and includes all the benefits and bonuses of Diamond membership.

Complete the 12 nights in 60 days and your Diamond elite membership qualification is met for 2011 and you will have Diamond elite status for all 2012 and through February 28, 2013. Members report receiving the four confirmed suite upgrades for Gold Passport Diamond elites during the Trial Diamond period.

An additional perk of the Diamond Trial offer is 1,000 bonus points per night on your first six nights of the Hyatt Diamond challenge.

Suite upgrades certainly make 12 paid nights at Hyatt Hotels more enjoyable while working to extend your Diamond membership beyond the trial 60 days.

Contact Hyatt Gold Passport customer service to request Gold Passport Diamond trial offer.

Related Links:

FlyerTalk – Hyatt Tier (Status) Matching Information

One of the benefits of top elite in several hotel programs is a welcome amenity gift offered at hotel check-in. Points are an option with programs like Starwood, Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton. Other choices depend on the hotel brand and program and may include extras like a free pay-for-view in-room movie, $5 or $10 mini-bar credit, cheese and wine plate, $10 room service credit, or local gift.

I generally take the points, but now and then a bottle of wine and cheese plate is more impressive and appreciated as a gift to share with friends at the hotel. My wife and I have stuffed animals from Starwood Hotels in Australia and assorted Delft pottery around the house from stays at various Starwood Hotels in the Netherlands. Gifts are more common at hotels outside the U.S.

Fruit, cheese, bread, hors d’oeuvre plates are typical welcome amenities at full service upscale hotels.

Points are generally my choice since I don’t care too much for cheese, hors d’oeuvre or wine. How about a 6-pack of Stella Artois beer?

So, generally I bring my own beer and take points, unless I have friends visiting in the room.

The Value of Amenity Points

SPG Platinum and Hyatt Diamond amenity points really add up over the course of the year.

Assume 25 stays in 2011 (minimum qualifying stays to earn annual SPG Platinum or Hyatt Diamond elite).

SPG Platinum = 500 points per stay (250 points at Aloft, Element and Four Points brands)

25 stays x 500 points per stay = 12,500 Platinum elite welcome amenity bonus points.

Here is how I perceive the value of 12,500 Starpoints.

SPG Cash & Points reward night at any category 4 hotel requires $60 + 4,000 points.

My experience assures me there is high potential to save over $200 at a Starwood Hotel using 4,000 points for a SPG Cash & Points award with a $240+ nightly room rate. My stay at the W Chicago Lakeshore saved more than $200. I only paid tax on the $60 cash portion of the SPG reward night rather than 15% Chicago tax on the full $280 room rate.

SPG Platinum amenity points will likely have $300 to $600+ cash savings redemption value if 12,500 points are earned by the Platinum member in 2011 from 25 hotel stays. This is a high value opportunity for earning bonus points simply by checking in and turning down food or hotel credit.

Assume you take a $10 movie or mini-bar credit and you save $250 after 25 stays.

Points are generally worth more than the in-hotel amenity if you prefer earning free or discount reward nights from hotel stays.

Hyatt Diamond Amenity

Most Hyatt Hotels offer a choice of 1,000 points as a Diamond amenity. Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites offer 500 points.

25 stays x 1,000 points = 25,000 bonus points

Hyatt category 6 hotel reward night is 22,000 points. Mid tier category 3 reward is 12,000 points.

25,000 points will likely have $400 redemption value.

Base points equivalent value shows the amenity points bonus is like having significant additional hotel spend on each hotel stay.

• SPG Platinum = 250 or 500 points ($125 or $250 base points equivalent value)
• Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond = 500 or 1,000 points ($100 to $200 base points equivalent value)
• Marriott Rewards Platinum = 1,000 points ($100 base points equivalent value)
• Hilton HHonors = 500 to 1,000 points ($50 to $100 base points equivalent value) 

Bottom line is top level amenity points are equivalent to spending an extra $100 to $250 for your hotel stay and the value of points can add around $300 to $600 in free room night rebate value to your annual hotel spend for top elite status with Hyatt or Starwood.  The value will likely be less for Marriott and Hilton members.

Sheraton Hotel Club Lounges will remain open 7 days a week beginning in 2011 was the announcement made by Hoyt Harper, Senior Vice President for Brand Management Starwood Hotels & Resorts at 2010 Star MegaDo2 event in the Sheraton Seattle November 5.

This has been primarily an issue with Sheraton Club Lounges in the U.S. being closed on weekends with apparently no standard practice for compensating elite guests or persons who booked Club Floor rooms on weekends. I have found most Sheraton Hotels offered breakfast on weekend mornings in the hotel’s restaurant. That has been a good bargain for many of my stays.

Sheraton San Jose, California is the main hotel where I run into the issue of a closed Club Floor Lounge on weekends. Out of 20 or more stays at Sheraton San Jose, I have only stayed one night on a weekday when the lounge was open. I enjoyed the evening snacks, but complimentary morning breakfast in the San Jose Sheraton hotel restaurant – The Bistro is preferable to the lounge breakfast.

This is mostly good news for Starwood Hotel Platinum elite guests who have a published benefit for complimentary Club lounge access at Westin, Sheraton and Le Meridien hotels and resorts. SPG Gold elites do not have Club Lounge access as a benefit. The lounge at many hotels is a relaxing, quiet place to spend time, read the paper, and get drinks, coffee and fruit for snacks when not wishing to be in the hotel guest room. 2011 will reveal how the food aspect of this weekend Club Lounge accessibility plays out.

FlyerTalk thread

Denver Sheraton Tech Center Club Lounge

I am kind of excited the Giants are going to the World Series. Hopefully this will be a better show than 1989.

I booked a couple of nights in the city for the first two games this week. Rates shot up to over $600 per night after the win this evening, but I snagged the W San Francisco and InterContinental Mark Hopkins on points. Who you gonna call?

I left out mattress runs as a component of the Chicago Seminar DO hotel loyalty programs presentation.

Here is a tutorial on how I approach planning multiple one-night stays for the purposes of earning elite credit fast and maximizing promotions. Points and elite status come in handy at times.

Remember the Future

The end of 2010 is quickly approaching with only about ten weeks left for securing elite qualifying hotel stays for the 2011 membership year.

In the remaining 10 weeks of 2010 I need more Hyatt stays, more Priority Club stays, and more SPG stays. I want some cheap rooms since several of these hotel nights are more about elite status and promotion bonuses for 2011 hotel stay opportunities rather than a need for so many hotel rooms before the end of this year.

Elite Qualification is Based on a Calendar Year

Basically all the major hotel loyalty programs determine a member’s elite status level by the number of stays or nights completed in a calendar year. Most major hotel loyalty programs only count paid stays for elite status (Accor A-Club, Best Western Rewards, Carlson goldpoints plus, Hyatt Gold Passport, InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards, Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and Wyndham Rewards). Hilton HHonors and Choice Privileges also count reward nights and stays for elite which adds an additional strategy component for hotel stay elite qualification. Priority Club counts almost all points earned for elite status (notable exception is points purchased for Points + Cash award stays.) HHonors also counts base points earned for elite status, but that is generally a more expensive route to elite status than qualifying by hotel stays.

Starwood Preferred Guest Stays Count Double and 4 stays to Gold promotions.

I find myself running short on SPG hotel stays in 2010 for Platinum elite requalification. Platinum elite members receive 500 welcome amenity points for most Starwood Hotel stays, except 250 points for aloft, element, and Four Points brand hotel stays.

Another major benefit of SPG elite is complimentary upgrades at full service hotels. In the past year my upgrades have varied from as basic as a top floor room with hotel lounge access, but the less desirable view at the Sheraton San Jose to a junior suite preferred view room at the Walt Disney World Dolphin on a Cash & Points rate to a full suite at Westin Market Street San Francisco on a $99 hotel rate.

Planning Mattress Runs

One of my main objectives is to get cheap room nights since I am planning to book more room nights than I really need for work or leisure. I must complete 5 stays to earn a SPG Rewarding Returns promotion bonus that will allow me to book a five night Category 5 hotel for 36,000 points rather than 48,000 points in 2011. That works out to essentially 2,400 bonus points per stay.

Five stays at Four Points, aloft, or element hotels during Stays Count Double will also fast-track requalification for SPG Platinum elite in 2010 to retain my Platinum elite membership through February 2012. SPG Platinum elite normally requires 25 stays in a calendar year.

I definitely prefer to stay at Westin, Sheraton and upper-upscale Starwood brands, but the option to get 10 stay credits with only 5 paid hotel nights for around $500 compared to needing around $1,500+ for 10 stays at Starwood upper-upscale brands is a major motivator to downscale my desired hotel market segment over the next two months.

Personally I give SPG Platinum elite a $1,000+ value over being SPG Gold as long as I spend 15 nights or more at Starwood Hotels in 2011. I estimate I will average around $100 per hotel night in added value by being SPG Platinum. Some complimentary room upgrades are $100 to $200 in added value like when booking a lowest rate room in the bottom category and getting a suite upgrade.

Not all Starwood Hotel stays will have that high an added-value due to Platinum elite. My two Starwood Hotel stays in Chicago this past week actually fell short of my $100 per night estimate since I only received Preferred view rooms with no substantial room category upgrade at either hotel, lounge access at the Sheraton Chicago ($15 value) and two free beers at the W Lakeshore Chicago ($12 value) + 500 bonus points at each hotel (1000 points = $29 purchase price value with current Starpoints promotion). That works out to about $28 added value per room night. Still, even at that rate I can expect to get about $420 in added value in 2011 with 15 room nights, in addition to the 12,000 points discount 5-night category 5 hotel reward stay.

I’ll certainly come out ahead more than $500 in 2011 by planning five stays at Four Points hotels before the end of 2010. 

Finding Cheap Rooms

Stays Count Double only applies to Aloft, Element and Four Points brands. There are no Aloft or Element Hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area so I will focus on finding low cost Four Points hotels.

In the San Francisco area I have five hotel choices within 150 miles of my home:

• Four Points San Francisco Airport
• Four Points San Francisco Bay Bridge
• Four Points San Rafael
• Four Points Pleasanton
• Four Points San Jose Downtown

Price factors:

Book refundable rooms whenever possible to lock in rate, but have the option of rebooking if rate drops before stay which is highly probable. 

Nightly Parking fees  – $20 per night San Jose Downtown impacts the $89 room rate; the other Four Points locations offer free parking.

Cost of gas to reach hotel – San Rafael is 250 miles roundtrip so $30 in gas compared to San Jose at 140 miles roundtrip or $16 in gas.

Location factor – accessing San Francisco Bay Bridge and San Rafael require driving in heavy traffic areas. San Jose Downtown is only hotel that has interesting sites within walking distance around hotel. Pleasanton is in the burbs. SFO is quite familiar and boring location.

Weekend vs. weekday – San Rafael is the only hotel here that consistently has lower weekday rates than weekend rates. Most of my stays will need to be on weekends to get the best price. Four Points Pleasanton is in a corporate business park area and weekday rates will be double the cost of weekend stays.

Holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays can result in really low rates and provide a good opportunity for end-of-year mattress runs. Four Points Pleasanton has $79 and $80 rates from November 19-28. Unfortunately this hotel is the most distant from the other hotels. Pleasanton is good for mattress runs by alternating nights between Hyatt Place Dublin ($62/night during Thanksgiving week) and Four Points Pleasanton to earn low-cost bonuses in two loyalty programs.

How to find low rates:

Travelocity allows me to check room rates over next 90 days. These rates will mirror the rates available on Starwood sites. And if the low rate is not showing up on the Starwood site, then I can file a Starwood Hotels Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) claim and receive 2,000 bonus points for the hotel stay. I filed a BRG today with SPG.

Four Points San Jose Downtown

Friday, Saturday and Sundays are inexpensive.

My initial thought is book San Jose on Friday night, go to another Four Points for Saturday night and get San Jose for Sunday night on the drive home. I can check in Sunday and go home and receive 2 stay credits for about $100. For about $300 I can receive 6 SPG elite stay credits over a single weekend.

San Francisco Airport tends to be cheap on Saturday nights. Here is the Travelocity calendar for Four Points SFO.

Four Points San Rafael drops to $99 per night every night in December 2010. Not bad for Marin County. Maybe even see George Lucas at the Starbucks.

Then there is always East Bay on the east side of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. I rarely venture into those parts, but I have wanted to check out the Four Points San Francisco Bay Bridge for several years.

I think it is time for the Four Points Industrial Tour of northern California for SPG hotel loyalty enthusiasts and wannabes.

I have always liked the feel of platinum.

Some people think I get free travel. The hotels and opportunities I get for discount rooms are the same opportunities open to any loyalty program member who plans with good travel strategies. I do not take complimentary rooms from hotels when I travel.

My goal is to show readers what is possible with hotel loyalty programs. Sometimes I probably get a nice upgrade due to being Loyalty Traveler, but the nice upgrades were a benefit I received as an elite hotel loyalty program member for many years prior to writing this blog.

Here is an example of how I stayed mostly in upper upscale and luxury hotels in Chicago for under $100 per night this past week even though a major Opthalmologist Convention was happening and filling many of the downtown Chicago hotels.

Holiday Inn Elk Grove (O’Hare Airport)

• Points & Cash = 0 points + $30
• Priority Club elite benefit = free Gatorade and chips from hotel pantry
• Published room rate = $109 or $122.08 after tax
• Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $30 + $5 maid tip = $35
• Loyalty Traveler Savings = $87.08

Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village (O'Hare)

Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers

• SPG Cash & Points $60 + 4,000 points
• SPG Platinum benefits = 33^rd floor lounge access with evening snacks and sodas, morning lounge breakfast, free internet, SPG Platinum Welcome Amenity 500 points and late checkout
• Published Room Rate = $265 or $304.75 after tax.
• Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $69 + $5 maid tip = $74
• Loyalty Traveler Savings = $230.75
• There is no cash equivalent value given for the 8,000 Starpoints used in Chicago since I earned 70,000 free Starpoints through this “My Midas Touch” promotion. There was also an option to buy SPG points at the rate of $145 per 10,000 points through DiscoverAmerica.com in May 2010. The cash equivalent value for 4,000 points would have been $58.

Room view from Sheraton Chicago

W Hotel Lakeshore

• SPG Cash & Points $60 + 4,000 points
• SPG Platinum benefits = Lakeview room, high floor, two free drinks at the Wave Bar, free internet, SPG Platinum Welcome Amenity 500 points and 4 pm checkout
• Published Room Rate = $309 or $355 after tax.
• Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $69 + $5 maid tip = $74
• Loyalty Traveler Savings = $281

View of Navy Pier from W Hotel Whiskey Sky Bar (similar to my room view)

Crowne Plaza Hotel Avenue

• Priority Club 25,000 points award ( I purchased 25,000 points last May for $150 through DiscoverAmerica.com Priority Club discount offer).
• Priority Club elite benefits = 15% off breakfast buffetat 40^th floor lounge; free beer at Elephant & Castle pub; complimentary upgrade to Tech floor with Mac computer and free internet.
• Published Room Rate = $329 or $379.67 after tax
• Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $15 (Elephant & Castle pub meal) + $5 maid tip = $20
• Loyalty Traveler Savings = $229.67

Chicago at sunset from 40th floor rooftop pool deck at Hotel Avenue Crowne Plaza

Park Hyatt Chicago

• Hyatt Gold Passport Category 6  award for 22,000 points ( I purchased 22,000 points last June for $206.25 through DiscoverAmerica.com Hyatt Gold Passport discount offer) (oops … I posted this a few minutes ago incorrectly stating I paid $123.75, so now my average is a little over $100 per night.)
• Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite benefits = complimentary breakfast at NoMI ($33 value for crab omelette); free internet; Diamond member welcome amenity of 1,000 points; preferred view room on top floor (18) of hotel facing historic Chicago Water Tower.
• Published Room Rate = $422.50 (AAA) or $487.56 after tax
• Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $5 maid tip
• Loyalty Traveler Savings = $281.31

Breakfast at 7th floor NoMI Restaurant Park Hyatt Chicago

5 hotel nights in Chicago = $564.25 for Loyalty Traveler

Actual lowest published rates for these hotel rooms = $1,649.06

That is why I am a loyalty traveler.

Starwood American Express card members will receive 2 stays and 5 nights annual elite qualifying credit beginning October 14, 2010 when the new card terms and $65 annual card fee go into effect. Starwood Lurker states on FlyerTalk the new benefit will apply for up to two cards for 4 stays and 10 nights elite credit for the primary card member of a personal and business SPG American Express card.

What is the big deal?

The initial announcement only stated an annual benefit for five nights elite qualifying credit. That actually was not much of a helpful benefit for many SPG card members, like me, who qualify on stays for elite status. In eight years I have always qualified for SPG Platinum elite on Starwood stays and never qualified on nights. You need to average two or more nights on every Starwood Hotel stay to qualify for SPG elite on nights more quickly than stays. 

• Starwood Preferred Guest Gold = 10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year (e.g. 2010, 2011).
• Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum = 25 stays or 50 nights.

SPG American Express card members (2 stays and 5 nights credit)

Reportedly all American Express cardmembers will receive 2 stays and 5 nights elite qualification credit for the 2010 calendar year in October 2010. Subsequent years elite credit stays and nights will be added each February, as long as the credit card account is active and in good standing. In February 2011 SPG American Express cardmembers will receive 2 stays and 5 nights elite credit for the 2011 calendar year.

Starwood Lurker FlyerTalk post (October 6, 2010)

The information I have been given up to now says that this will happen every late February. From that, my understanding is that everyone who is a cardmember as of October 14th will get 2 stays/5 nights this October for 2010 and then 2 stays/5 nights next February to apply toward 2011. Those who have both the business and personal cards would receive twice that.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

SPG Elite Qualification thresholds for SPG American Express card member

Starwood Preferred Guest Gold = 10 stays or 25 nights. 

• 8 stays or 20 nights for SPG AMEX card member – Business or Personal
• 6 stays or 15 nights for SPG AMEX Personal and Business Cards member

Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum = 25 stays or 50 nights.

• 23 stays or 45 nights for SPG AMEX card member – Business or Personal
• 21 stays or 40 nights for SPG AMEX Personal and Business Cards member

Another post from Starwood Lurker states, “Any new card members who sign up and are approved for the SPG American Express on or after October 14, 2010 will automatically get credit for 2 stays and 5 nights towards 2010.”

Five elite nights credit was little benefit to this SPG American Express card member, but 2 stays elite credit is a benefit I think will reduce my need for one more stay at an Aloft, Element, or Four Points Hotel in 2010.

SPG made the program rule change in October 2009 to allow SPG Category 1 and Category 2 Cash & Points awards in the US and Canada.

Every couple of months since last year I looked and never found any category 1 or 2 hotel in the U.S. offering a Cash & Points award. I just checked today and went through eight states before I finally tried Wisconsin. Today is the first time I found a SPG category 2 hotel in the USA offering this elusive Cash & Points award opportunity.

Aloft Green Bay Wisconsin has a Category 2 Cash & Points award available this weekend for Friday, September 24, 2010. Green Bay Packers have a Monday Night Football away game in Chicago so the weekend football crowds are out of town.

There are only 10 SPG category 1 hotels in the USA. Good luck finding a SPG category 1 hotel, let alone a Cash & Points offer. There are about 100 category 2 hotels in the US and Canada. 

Simple calculation for hotel stay redemption point value  

Aloft Green Bay is $101 after tax for a paid stay or 3,000 points for a weekend rewards night or 1,600 points and $30 for a Cash & Points award. 

Points Redemption Value of a 3,000 points Award Stay

$101/3,000 = $33.67 per 1,000 points 

Points Redemption Value of Cash & Points Category 2 Hotel $30 + 1,600 points Award

$101 – $30 cash portion = $71 saved with 1,600 points

$71/1,600 = $44.38 per 1,000 points.

Advanced Points Redemption Value Calculations 

To be more precise you might want to consider the points for a paid stay not earned when spending points. Paying $89 for the Aloft Green Bay room will earn points and elite credit.

In general, I always try and pay when the room rate is around $100 to earn elite credit and points. But assume elite credit is not a concern and the value of points can be adjusted to include points not earned with a paid stay. The base points generally are not a big factor compared to the loss of SPG promotion points.

Currently SPG has the Every Night Counts promotion for double points or triple points. This promotion is really not a big effect on this stay. But sometimes promotions are worth 1,000 or more points per night or even credit towards a high value free night offer. High-value promotions can greatly impact the value of points calculations and should be considered when determining the value of a point.

Starpoints earned on paid Starwood stay: 

$89 x 2 base points/$1 = 178 points

SPG Double points promotion (Sep 8-Dec 15, 2010) = 178 points

Gold or Platinum elite bonus = 89 points 

• Base member earns 356 points (with double points promotion)
• Gold or Platinum member earns 445 points (assume double points)

SPG Platinum Elite 

• Platinum member already requalified for 2011 status earns extra elite bonus point or 89 points = 534 points
• Platinum member, requalified and with 10 nights in Every Night Counts (triple points) earns 712 points 

To keep this post shorter I will ignore the Platinum member who could potentially earn more points from a paid stay with the current promotions.

Two other points earning situations I will ignore since these are not relevant to the value of a paid stay vs. award stay:

• Platinum member earns 250 points amenity regardless if paid stay or award stay so this is not included.
• SPG American Express payment is also negated since 2 points/$1 earned for Starwood Hotel spend whether a paid stay or Cash & Points stay.

Redemption Value of Standard Award Stay for SPG general member:

Non-elite member earns 356 points paying $89 base rate ($101 after tax)  with the current double points promotion. 

• $101/3,356 points =
• $30.10 per 1,000 points.

This is still good redemption value.

Redemption Value of Cash & Points Stay for SPG general member: 

• $101-$30 = $71 saved;
• $71 saved ÷ (1,600 points Cash & Points Award + 356 points not earned for paid stay) =
• $71 ÷  1,956 points =
• $36.30 per 1,000 points

This is still excellent redemption value since you can buy points for $35 per 1,000 points from SPG.

Gold or Platinum elite member earns 445 points paying $89 base rate ($101 after tax)  with the current double points promotion.

Redemption Value of Standard Award Stay for SPG Gold/Platinum member:

• $101/3,445 points =
• $29.32 per 1,000 points.

This is still good redemption value. 

Redemption Value of Cash & Points Stay for SPG Gold/Platinum Elite: 

• $101-$30 = $71 saved;
• $71 saved ÷ (1,600 points Cash & Points Award + 445 points not earned for paid stay) =
• $71 ÷  2,045 points =
• $34.72 per 1,000 points

This is still excellent redemption value since you can buy points for $35 per 1,000 points from SPG.

The main point of this post is finding a Cash & Points for a SPG Category 1 or 2 hotel is a rare find in my searches. This is the first time I have seen a hotel offer this award in the U.S. since they were placed on the SPG award chart in October 2009.

Questions for readers:

Have you ever redeemed a Cash & Points award stay in the U.S. or Canada at a Category 1 or 2 hotel?

Do you even see them offered?

Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elites who have requalified for 2011 Platinum status will receive one extra bonus point per dollar in spend from October 1 through December 31, 2010.  Promotion registration is required by December 30, 2010. Stays prior to registration will not earn the extra Starpoint. Four Starpoints promotion terms and conditions.

The extra bonus point for SPG Platinum only applies to stays after the member has requalified in 2010 for 2011 platinum elite status. This promotion is a small incentive for Starwood loyalists who reach 25 stays or 50 nights well before the end of the year.

This offer is combinable with the SPG Every Night Counts double/triple points promotion.

Platinum members who have requalified for 2011 Platinum elite will receive at least 6 points per dollar from the combination of double points and the platinum extra point for Starwood stays during the overlapping promotion dates.

SPG Gold and Platinum elite members normally receive 2 base points and 1 bonus point for 3 points per dollar in Starwood Hotel spend.

Platinum elite Starpoints earning potential is 10 points/$1 from October 1-December 15, 2010

• 2 base points/$1
• 1 elite bonus point/$1
• 2 bonus points/$1 (Every Night Counts double points bonus for 1-9 nights; Sep 8-Dec 15)
• 1 platinum elite bonus point (Oct. 1-Dec 31; platinums who have already requalified for 2011 platinum)
• 2 bonus points/$1 (Every Night Counts triple points bonus for 10+ nights; Sep 8-Dec 15)
• 2 bonus points/$1 (SPG American Express payment)