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)

Starwood Preferred Guest Rewarding Returns promotion is a choice between the offers of 25% off an award stay or 4,000 points or a $50 certificate after completing 5 hotel stays from July 1 to Dec 31.

Registration for this offer is required at SPG.com/rewardingreturns.

I had no hesitation choosing the 25% off award. The discount award is potentially worth 12,000 points in savings compared to the choice of 4,000 bonus points. Points are potentially a much higher value than the $50 certificate. The limitation of the 25% award discount is the discount is only valid for category 1 to category 5 hotels and the stay is limited to five nights. The best aspect of the award discount is the redemption period is good for one hotel stay up to five nights through July 31, 2011.

Update: 7:00pm, July 14

Well it turns out that SPG changed the terms and conditions on this offer yesterday to allow 25% off a 5th night free award. The original terms excluded the 25% discount on the 5th night free offer. I missed that change posted by Starwood Lurker (official SPG representative)  on page 21 of the FlyerTalk thread from July 13. The 25% discount in points for an award is now even a better deal.

To redeem the 25% award discount you must call SPG Customer Service 1-888-625-4911 and request award ID 485.

The best value for the 25% discount award is a four or five night Category 5 hotel stay for 36,000 points rather than 48,000 points – a savings of 12,000 points.

The 25% award discount is for one stay up to five nights, however, SPG normally discounts 20% points for any member booking a five night stay using points. There is only a slight savings using this discount for a five night stay since the discount is not combinable with the already discounted 5^th night free award option for any SPG member.

For example, the 25% discount on a five night Category 5 hotel stay only saves 3,000 points, reducing the cost from 48,000 points (5^th night free award) to 45,000 points (25% award discount). In this example the member is better off getting the 4,000 bonus points rather than the 25% award discount.

Basically any hotel stay of two to five nights at a category 4 or 5 hotel or a three to five night stay at a Category 3 hotel will save more than 4,000 points and is a better value than the 4,000 bonus points choice with this Rewarding Returns promotion offer.

The exclusion of category 6 and 7 is a relatively small number of properties. I can understand the restriction on category 7 hotels, but I sure would like to have seen category 6 hotels included for this offer.

In my opinion a nice touch by SPG would have been to offer SPG Gold elites up to Category 6 hotels in the 25% discount offer and SPG Platinum members the option of a discount on a category 7 award. There really has not been much from SPG this year to recognize SPG elite members with additional incentives. The SPG Platinum gift this year was a $25 hotel certificate when in the past there has been an offer of 50% off one award stay for Platinum members.

It is not too late SPG to recognize your elites with a distinctive offer.

Barbara De Lollis published a scoop last week for her Hotel Check-In blog on Starwood Hotels secret elite program, “Scoop: Starwood Hotels runs top-secret loyalty pilot program that targets rivals’ customers”. Since the USA Today article appeared last Thursday the story has spread across the hotel industry journals.

Honestly, I wasn’t going to write about this story due to the exclusive nature of the program. I don’t have much interest in a club I can’t join and most Loyalty Traveler readers won’t be invited to join.

The power of the media is demonstrated when an article in USA Today spreads across the hotel magazine information world in a matter of a few days.

The irony of the recent media publicity is the Starwood secret elite program is a not-so-secret program to readers of the FlyerTalk “Starwood Preferred Guest” forum. Within the Starwood forum is an 18-page thread started over 13 months ago on February 4, 2009 titled, “Hello, I am your Starwood Ambassador”.

Starwood Lurker, a nearly ten year veteran of FlyerTalk and social media representative for Starwood on FlyerTalk, explained the program on February 9, 2009 in this FlyerTalk post:

“My apologies for any confusion; hopefully I can help clear up some questions on the Ambassador program by providing what I know.

The Ambassador program is a new, trial program Starwood is launching outside and complementary of any programs or benefits offered by SPG. As some have already outlined in this thread, each participant in the program is assigned a personal Starwood representative (Ambassador) who will assist them with any travel needs. The Ambassador program is one of a number of pilots and programs that Starwood consistently runs to ensure that we are always serving the evolving needs of our guests. To be clear, this program in no way diminishes the value of the SPG program, nor the value we place in our program members.

As of right now this is an invitation-only program, with no specific entry thresholds or benefits.

Hope that helps!

Best regards,

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

Several of the participants in the Starwood Ambassador program have positive experiences to share in their posts on the FlyerTalk thread over the past year.

From my point of view – I have not seen any diminishment of my complimentary upgrades during my Starwood Hotel stays over the past year. I love an upgrade to a preferred view and/or a bigger room.

And Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elite membership is an open club for anyone who cares to plan out an annual loyalty strategy, invest some cash in Starwood hotel stays, and meet the published criteria.

I don’t have a Starwood Ambassador to help with my stays, but I have simple needs. And I have to say the Platinum Concierge phone number on my SPG Platinum card has handled my hotel needs to my satisfaction since 2003.

To all you recipients of a Starwood Ambassador, I’m sure you deserve the attention. Your potential for substantial hotel revenue is a strong driver for personalized service. For the rest us who may not be so profitable to Starwood Hotels, well, loyalty is still rewarded with Starwood Preferred Guest.

Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit is happening in New York City Feb 22-24. So far I have seen nothing new coming out of the conference reports, but I guess it is news to lots of people.

There is a lot of chatter about rivals going after disgruntled Hilton HHonors members. Here is a good read from Deena Beasley mentioning  HHonors executive lounge closures.  And this quote regarding the recent hotel category shift across the chain from Hilton’s senior VP of global customer marketing Jeff Diskin, “We had an increase in free night redemptions. We did see a need to recalibrate.”

The comments by Henry Harteveldt, a highly regarded travel industry analyst at Forrester Research, and Bjorn Hanson, hospitality academic at NYU, indicate there may be a trend toward executive lounge closures in hotels. Some hotel management view guest lounges with free breakfast, appetizers, and personnel as an unprofitable expense. 

Interestingly there are two arguments being played out in these loyalty program stories.

1. Loyalty program members are important revenue sources to the hotel chains.
2. Frequent guests are less profitable to the chain due to savvy travelers gaining benefits and free nights, while often paying some of the lowest rates offered by the hotel rooms. 

I plead guilty. I call it smart shopping. Value is important to me since every purchasing decision means something else I desire doesn’t get bought.

Perhaps hotel lounges will remain a part of international travel, just not so prevalent in the USA.

Could the airline model of paid lounges for USA and complimentary access for elites when traveling internationally spread to hotel loyalty programs?

Despite all the gloomy outlooks there is another bright spot for Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elites who will receive free internet access at any Starwood Hotel beginning March 1, 2010.

I think that rule change just saved me $50 next week. I might be able to afford the hotel restaurant this trip.

Providing of course the hotel has not shut down the restaurant during my stay.

Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit stories:

Repeatedly mentioned in these stories is the fact that hotel growth is primarily international and the US is the worst performing hotel market globally. Unfortunately for the hotel chains their properties are predominantly located in the USA with most major chains having 75% or more hotels in the US.

“Travel Companies Grapple with New Normal” text story.

 Travel industry outlook for 2010 video.

(video length = 5:46 min)

Discusses hotels, airlines, and Las Vegas hotels and convention business.

Finishes with forecast of well-financed public hotel companies buying out private hotel companies.

Expedia and Priceline executives discuss “Online travel bookings shift overseas” in this piece by Kyle Peterson. 

Starwood discusses growth in China in this story and an interesting item is 40% of Starwood bookings are happening in emerging markets. China could become Starwood’s largest market after the USA in a few years.

February 24, 2010 – Barbara DeLollis, Hotel Check-in blog at USA Today wrote the piece on hotel lounge closures Feb 22 that got me following this topic and yesterday she followed up with another post showing anecdotal evidence and comments confirming changes are happening.

$49 for the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf last Monday was too good a deal to pass up. The 49ers winning Monday Night Football December 14 was icing on the cake. We have been sugar free too many years with the 49ers.

 

The main criticism I have of the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf 49ers football gameday $49 promotional rate is the hotel did not let guests on the low rate check in before 3pm.  Candlestick Park is 6.5 miles from Fisherman’s Wharf and heavy traffic for games at rush hour. I thought the hotel could have done better to accommodate the large number of guests who genuinely planned to go to the football stadium for the game.

Considering I did not need to travel to Candlestick Park, the after 3pm check-in was not a nuisance for me. I received 1,647 Starpoints ($46 value@$28/1,000 points) for the hotel stay and 2010 stay credit with my SPG Platinum member promotion and complimentary buffet breakfast. This was my first stay at the hotel where I was not in a 4^th floor, top floor room. The only real difference in the rooms is the top floor rooms have had couches and the third floor room had only a cushion chair and a floor unit heater.

 

 

Recently I criticized Oyster.com hotel reviews of San Francisco for comments reviewers made on hotels in the Convention Center district, Union Square, and Financial District as not being in places where locals go. I made the comment that Fisherman’s Wharf hotels are also not in neighborhoods where locals hang out.

 

 

The waterfront in the Fisherman’s Wharf area has loads of restaurants, souvenir shops, and tourist traps. The hotels are on the adjacent three blocks away from the water. And to the south are neighborhoods all the way through North Beach, Coit Tower, and Chinatown to the Financial District and Nob Hill. There are loads of locals in the restaurants and cafes south towards the city once you walk away from the piers on the waterfront  and the hotels of Fisherman’s Wharf.

This year I have stayed a few times at Fisherman’s Wharf hotels and I have always found street parking for free. The hotels in this part of town have pros and cons. The number one benefit is the low price during weekdays in the off-season for tourists. The central business district and Moscone convention center hotels in downtown San Francisco are 1.5 to 2.0 miles south of the Wharf and generally run higher rates for Sunday through Thursday nights. Much of the year it is possible to get a hotel room for half the price at Fisherman’s Wharf compared to hotels in the same chain in the San Francisco central business district.

Major brand hotels at Fisherman’s Wharf include Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, Radisson, and a Sheraton. Kimpton has the Argonaut in a great location and the Fairmont Ghiradelli Residences are on the same block.

 

 

Advantages of Fisherman’s Wharf Hotels

1.       Low room rates in off-season and generally lower Sunday through Thursday nights compared to the central business district hotels.

2.       While hotel parking is expensive and over $40 per night at some locations like the Sheraton, there are several street blocks around the Sheraton Hotel that are unmetered areas where a car can be parked without restriction except for 2am-6am street cleaning on either Monday, Wednesday, Friday on one side of the street and Tuesday or Thursday on the other side of the street. It is a possible to find a parking space on North Point or Bay Streets good from Thursday morning through Monday evening without paying meters, if you are lucky.

3.       Safeway and Trader Joe’s supermarkets are in the neighborhood. The downtown hotels have few major supermarket locations. Most food is higher priced corner store groceries or what you can find at a Walgreen’s Drugstores which are as prevalent as Starbucks in the central business district.

The Fisherman’s Wharf hotels are all low height buildings of just three of four floors and generally limited views for city vistas in contrast to the downtown skyscraper hotels of Marriott Marquis (39 floors), Hilton (46 floors), Westin Market Street, InterContinental San Francisco, Grand Hyatt, and the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont Tower on Nob Hill with exceptional views.

 

 

Walking across San Francisco between the major downtown hotels like the W Hotel, Marriott Marquis, San Francisco Hilton, and InterContinental San Francisco South of Market to Fisherman’s Wharf to the north is only a 45 minute walk. From the Hilton Financial District, Le Meridien, Mandarin Oriental, or hotels on Nob Hill like the Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance Stanford Court, InterContinental Mark Hopkins, or Fairmont the walk is just around 30 minutes.

The cable car can take you directly from Union Square to Fisherman’s Wharf, but the long lines at Powell Street and Market during busy tourist season may require 30 minutes of waiting in line and chances are you will be crowded on the car with dozens of tourists. The one-way fare of $5 adds up quickly, particularly for a family. Transportation Passports are a good buy for multi-day unlimited public transit on buses, streetcars, and cable cars. BART subway requires separate fares.  Passports are available at Walgreen’s Drugstores, an ubiquitous retailer in the central business district of San Francisco which sells most of the items a tourist may want with the exception of alcohol.

Most hotels around Market Street will recommend traveling to the Fisherman’s Wharf area by the cable car or the F Trolley. The historical trolley cars run from the Castro District down Market to the Embarcadero waterfront and around the piers to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf.

 

 

Walking out the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf I planned to eat at Kennedy’s Irish Pub and Indian Restaurant at 1040 Columbus Avenue and pull down a $2 Guinness or two during the 5-7pm happy hour.

Turned out I was 10 minutes too early for the 5pm Happy Hour Guinness. Planning to kill 10 or 15 minutes I strolled up the street taking photos.

 

 

I soon found myself passing Saints Peter and Paul Church into North Beach. Baseball great Joe Dimaggio was married here to his first wife and had photos taken at the Church with his bride Marilyn Monroe.

 

 

Across Washington Square from the church is Joe Dimaggio’s Restaurant.

I wondered how long it actually takes to walk between Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel and Le Meridien Hotel at the Embarcadero for people who are visiting the city. The answer is about 30 minutes at a steady, but not fast pace.  This is the same for the time to walk from Fisherman’s Wharf to Nob Hill (Fairmont Hotel, Renaissance Stanford Court, Ritz-Carlton, and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins. The walk is long, but actually less strenuous from the Wharf than walking the much shorter three blocks on a severely steep grade from Union Square up Nob Hill.

View of San Francisco Financial District from North Beach

 

 

After the 30 minute walk from Fisherman’s Wharf to Le Meridien I had warmed up nicely from the low 50s temp on a December evening just after dark. A stroll through Le Meridian for a quick lobby check, and 333 Bar was happening with a sizeable business crowd vibe and a 60-40 mix of women to men.

Even the Library Room off the lobby was more quietly filled with business suit attired women. In a sign of the times there are no longer books in the Le Meridien lobby library; replaced by two large wall mounted flat-screen TVs.

Le Meridien Hotel was not my destination. Unite Here Local 2 has Le Meridien San Francisco on their boycott list. I just try to keep track of lobby changes and I was looking for holiday decorations. The number of people in the lobby socializing was more than I ever experienced as a guest and kind of distracted me from checking out the holiday decorations. Nothing too over-the-top festive jumped out at me.

 

I bypassed 150 restaurants between the Wharf and Embarcadero to go to a place I know. Fuzio Universal Pasta sounds like a nice Italian restaurant, but I’ve never had pasta there. The bar runs a 3 to 7pm happy hour with $3 appetizers. Crab Cakes and lettuce wraps for $6 rather than the regular menu price of $17 is a good dining deal. Fuzio has a selection of eight or so beers at $3 per pint – Peroni, Stella, and several California microbrews.

 

 

I recommend Fuzio because I have enjoyed the appetizers and beer for a couple of years at the Embarcadero location and I like the ambience of this café bar. This is a good place to know if you are staying at the Hyatt Regency or Le Meridien hotels, located on either end of the Embarcadero pedestrian walkway complex, and you want a good beer and munchies at a value price on Monday thru Friday happy hours.

 

 

 

The real find of my evening was Café Prague across the street and down Merchant Street alley from Le Meridien. Krusovice light and dark, Pilsner Urquel, and  Czechvar on tap. The beer was $3.50 at Happy Hour for a pint from any of four brews.

This pub was cozy, relaxing global chillage environment, and not at all what I expected when I wandered in to watch the 49ers game. The half-dozen patrons were all low key guys, financial looking types, and the women all seemed to be employees, on and off duty, since they freely moved from in front of the bar to behind the bar throughout my time there. The guys watched the game on mute, both TV and voices for the most part, and the women talked in a blend of Czech and English. Low key Czech rock music played over the stereo. This place had extraordinary vibe and I felt like I had been transported back to Prague for an hour.

 

December is the month for securing elite status. People in the know, those frequent guests and fliers making mattress runs and mileage runs this month, know that a few unnecessary hotel room nights or a few thousand miles of unnecessary airline flights are truly necessary. Some loyalty travelers are frantically booking travel solely for the purpose of attaining the magic threshold of higher elite status in 2010.

And it is magic when after 10 minutes waiting in the elite security line at the crowded airport, you barely get on your plane just before it taxies out of the gate. You reflect on the frazzled family who walked up to the elite check-in airport counter just in front of you, each parent cradling a crying toddler, with a hands-free wandering preschooler lagging behind dragging a backpack, a babystroller under Dad’s arm, two suitcases, two backpacks, and a purse.  You watched as you moved closer to the elite member check-in counter while the parents were steered away from the Star Alliance Gold members check-in line to the hopelessly long economy class general members’ line extending halfway down the terminal. They were supposed to depart on the same flight as you, but they hadn’t even arrived at the security zone as you passed through the detectors and rushed off to the gate. They are still waiting in some non-elite fliers’ line while you are comfortably seated in First Class as the plane heads toward the runway.

Elite level status has practical implications in the frequent flier world beyond upgrades and airport lounges.

I haven’t been on a plane in the past few months. I watched scenarios like I described here over a number of years when I traveled as a United Airlines Mileage Plus elite member. I flew over 100,000 miles a year for several years primarily as a means of flying comfortably and having the privilege to hang out at airport lounges during international flights.

Joe Sharkey has a piece posted this week on his blog, Joe Sharkey At Large, “Continental Airlines is the Latest Airline to Diss Lower-Level Elite-Status Customers”. His piece is about how Continental Airlines offers enhancements to the most frequent fliers in the 100,000 flight miles per year category and new super-tier called Presidential Platinum elite for the cream of the Platinum fliers.

Flying 100,000 miles is expensive for a leisure traveler. I held United 1K for a couple of years with less than $2,500 in spending on flights annually, but then there was another $1,500 or so for my wife’s flights. And then add another $4,000 to $5,000 for lodging, and then add daily expenses when traveling. 

$4,000 to $5,000 in airfare was one expense I had to cut back, about 30% of my annual travel budget, to have some money available to put into Loyalty Traveler business expenses. Loyalty Traveler was founded as a business for explaining the value of elite status with travel loyalty programs and ironically I had to give up elite status air travel to conserve resources for the business. I hope to get back to a much higher level of air travel in the next year or two.

Right now my focus is maintaining high elite status in a couple of hotel programs – Hyatt Gold Passport and Starwood Preferred Guest – for my hotel travel. I just suffer like the masses when I have to get on a plane.

Ed Perkins wrote a piece on SmarterTravel.com, “Dollars Trump Miles as a Measure of Airline Loyalty”. Ed had an issue with upgrading a United flight using miles. He could not get an advance confirmation of the upgrade.

My experience of traveling around the world as a United 1K was a blast when I could buy a $600 ticket from California to Singapore, upgrade my ticket to a business class seat with a systemwide certificate (SWU), hang out at the international lounge in SFO before the flight, and then pop into the United Red Carpet Club at Narita Airport Tokyo for a free shower and a couple of glasses from the automatic beer dispenser. My cheap economy ticket also allowed me to earn 40,000 to 50,000 redeemable miles and 18,000 to 36,000 elite qualifying miles depending on promotions.

The problem with all that lovely treatment as a United 1K is that travel with my wife Kelley wasn’t always as fun. I’m not talking about a need for Tiger Woods entertainment without the wifey. I am talking about the fact that my United Airlines Mileage Plus elite status regularly provided upgrades for me, domestic and international. However, Kelley’s low level elite status, and sometimes even as a Premier Executive, frequently did not allow her to clear the upgrade list. We often traveled separately on the same plane to Europe with me in her assigned economy class seat and her in my upgraded Business Class seat.

Mom & Dad’s Florida Vacation

My parents have learned the value of Starwood Preferred Guest elite status – especially since they do not have it. This morning I received a call from my mom vacationing in Florida. Their hotel travel tally so far is three Starwoods and a Hilton in Florida. I asked them to take pictures of the view from each bedroom window at their hotels.

Hotel websites are generally good about photos of the hotel entrance, the lobby, restaurants, and pool.

Hotel websites rarely show a prospective guest the view from the less desirable side of the hotel. I am struck by the number of times I stay at a hotel and receive the preferred view and think this was a good deal. And I consider all those people I see coming out of their room located on the other side of the hallway and I wonder, “Do you feel like you’ve been cheated with this hotel stay?”

So my mom tells me they had a nice size room at a Sheraton in Fort Lauderdale, but faced the parking lot for the multi-night stay. Then, it was the Sheraton in Key West at a resort property on the beach, but their room was not facing the beach side of the hotel. Then, her description of the room in Coral Gables was “nicely furnished, but the room was miniscule.” She said the rooms are nothing like I get when I stay at Starwood Hotels.

“Elite Status” is my Two Word Response

Earning elite status with a hotel chain is really a much easier affair than airline frequent flier programs. Playing the 100,000 mile game with airlines is a matter of either several long-haul international trips or a whole lot of domestic flying. Hotel loyalty high-level elite-status is something many travelers can earn without even leaving town. You will appreciate your effort when you take that $3,000 beach resort vacation and spend the week looking at the beach from your hotel room window and balcony.

Here is the view from my room when I stayed at the Westin Mission Hills near Palm Springs, California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received an upgrade on my Cash & Points stay to a golf course view preferred room. A general member of SPG on the same rate would be more likely to have received a room with this type of view across the parking lot.

Westin Mission Hills Resort – the other side of the hotel

 

Stays Count Double through January 31, 2010 with Hyatt Gold Passport

 

 

 

(The Next Big Thing registration required)

Hyatt Gold Passport is offering double stay credit for elite status through January 31, 2010. Elite status is based on paid stays completed in a calendar year. This means you can earn Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum level elite membership with just 3 stays in January or Diamond elite with 13 stays. The elite status you earn with Hyatt Gold Passport in January 2010 during stays count double will remain valid for over two years through February 2012.

Between fast-track elite status and Costco Hyatt Check Certificates at a 20% discount, the cost to earn high elite Diamond status with Hyatt can readily be accomplished for under $1,000 in many places while earning free nights for a fantastic February or March 2010 resort vacation. Check out your local Hyatt Place hotel rates. You can even go upscale Hyatt at a bargain with low January rates in many locations. The Hyatt Regency San Francisco was over $250 per night for most of summer 2009 and is less than half that rate for most weekends in January 2010. San Diego hotels are an incredible bargain right now.

Starwood Preferred Guest instant SPG Gold elite for New Members

Starwood Preferred Guest has offered a “stays count double” promotion every year for the past several years. Take advantage of the offer if it comes around next year and you can set yourself up with high-level elite-status.

Seriously, when you are spending a couple of thousand dollars for a vacation, a little bit of annual hotel planning can put you in that beach resort hotel on the beach side of the hotel rather than the resort view of the parking lot.

If you are new to Starwood Preferred Guest and you would like to receive instant SPG Gold elite membership, valid through February 2011, then just send me an email ricgarridolt@gmail.com. With my SPG Platinum member referral, you can be registered for 1,000 bonus points per night ($35 value) at Starwood Hotels through March 31, 2010 and you will receive an instant upgrade to SPG Gold Elite membership. And I get 1,000 points if you actually stay in a Starwood Hotel by March 31. A win-win-win deal for you, me, and Starwood.

Hotel Loyalty Program Links:

Hyatt Gold Passport “The Next Big Thing” Promotion

Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum elite benefits (lower-tier elite)

Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite benefits (higher-tier)

Starwood Preferred Guest Gold elite benefits

Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elite benefits

Loyalty Traveler posts:

Passports with Purpose Win 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points

Earn 2,500 airline miles with every two nights at Hyatt brand hotels (Oct. 5, 2009)

Hyatt Faster Free Nights + Stays Count Double promotion analysis Oct.1 – Jan 31, 2010 (Sep 19, 2009)

Hyatt Gold Passport Enhancements – And they really are enhancements (April 2, 2009)

 

Starwood Preferred Guest is currently running a targeted promotion whereby as a SPG Platinum elite member I can refer a new member to SPG for instant Gold elite and bonus points.

The new SPG member will receive instant SPG Gold elite membership valid through February 2011 and earn 1,000 bonus points for every night you stay in a Starwood Hotel between November 15, 2009 and March 31, 2010.

This offer is only valid for new members to Starwood Preferred Guest. Current SPG members and expired SPG members will be purged from this offer according to SPG representatives.

Starwood Hotels has about 1,000 properties globally. The hotel brands in the Starwood family include Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St. Regis, the Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, Four Points, element, and aloft. The hotel chain is regularly one of the top performers on Condé Nast’s annual Gold List of the World’s Best Hotels with far more hotels selected than the much larger hotel chains of Hilton and InterContinental Hotels Group.

Starwood Preferred Guest Gold Benefits link.

My new SPG friends earning 1,000 points per night will be earning more points per Starwood Hotel stay than me on my stays for the duration of this promotion. I only receive 500 points per stay for an SPG Platinum amenity and I don’t even receive that at some hotels.  1,000 bonus points per night is a great Starwood promotion for any member and a fantastic deal for a new SPG member.

SPG Gold elite membership normally requires 10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year. Gold membership has the benefit of increasing your earnings to 3 Starpoints per $1 compared to 2 Starpoints per $1 as a base level SPG Blue member. The 1,000 bonus points per night is on top of points normally earned and other promotional bonuses you may be eligible to receive during this promotion period. 

Spend $300 for a three night Starwood Hotel stay and you will earn 3,900 Starpoints rather than just 600 Starpoints normally earned by a new SPG Blue level member. Free nights with SPG start at 2,000 points for a Category 1 weekend. Category 4 Cash & Points Awards are just $60 + 4,000 points per night.

So what is in it for me?

I will earn a one-time 1,000 Starpoints bonus if a referral member stays at least one time in a Starwood Hotel during the promotion period ending March 31, 2010.

Let me help you. And you help me. My wife and I would thoroughly love a nice hotel vacation in 2010 far away from California in a European Starwood Hotel courtesy of our SPG friends.

Let’s make social media work for both of us.

What would really be cool for Loyalty Traveler blog is to have my new SPG Gold friends submit a photo of a Starwood hotel stay. Let’s see if Loyalty Traveler can spread the Gold touch of travel around the world.

What you need to do for me to refer you for this promotional offer:

1.       Send me an email to ricgarridolt@gmail.com using the email address you want for the referral to Starwood Preferred Guest. I’ll try to check it at least daily for referral requests. The SPG referral only requires your email so you don’t even have to provide your name if you so choose. And if you choose to write me a note, that is cool too.

2.       I will submit your email address using the SPG promotion referral form. (see picture)

3.       You look for the referral email from SPG. You should receive the email from SPG within a day of my referral. (see picture)

4.       Join SPG using the email referral link provided in the email from SPG.

5.       Your membership status should be Gold (assuming you are truly a new SPG member)

6.       Stay in a Starwood hotel and earn 1,000 bonus points for every night by March 31, 2010.

7.       Enjoy your Starwood Hotel stays. I have enjoyed most of mine over the years.

This promotion is a targeted promotion received by SPG for selected Platinum members.

Here is a picture of the email offer I received.

Here is what the email you receive from Starwood Preferred Guest will look like.

Terms and Conditions for the SPG Platinum Member Referral Promotion:

Existing SPG® Platinum members (“Referrers”) will earn 1,000 bonus Starpoints® for each referred friend or colleague (“Referee”) who joins the Starwood Preferred Guest® program and stays at least one eligible night between November 15, 2009, and March 31, 2010. Referrers must be Platinum status as of November 13, 2009. Referrers can earn a maximum of 1,000 bonus Starpoints per Referee, but there is no limit to the amount of Referees one can enter. Bonus Starpoints for Referrers will show up in the account within 4–6 weeks after the eligible night posts to the Referee’s account. Referrers must recommend Referees by registering and entering Referee’s email addresses on the promotion referral page. Deadline for referrals is February 28, 2010. Referees who enroll based on an existing member’s referral will earn 1,000 bonus Starpoints per eligible night between November 15, 2009, and March 31, 2010, plus receive elite Gold status through February 2011. Referees excluded from the promotion include existing SPG members, past members whose accounts have expired, or anyone who has opted out of Starwood Preferred Guest communications. There are no limits to the number of Starpoints a Referrer or Referee may earn during the promotion period. This offer is only open to Referrers who are existing Platinum members and were targeted through email directly. An eligible night is a night spent at any of the over 940 SPG participating properties while paying a qualifying rate that is eligible to earn Starpoints in the Starwood Preferred Guest program between November 15, 2009, and March 31, 2010.

 

 

Starwood Preferred Guest Cash & Points awards are the best way to get excellent value out of your SPG points. Cash & Points Award Nights, when offered, provide a 60% discount in the points required for a free room night in exchange for a specific cash co-pay that is set according to the SPG hotel redemption category.

Free nights using points-only is covered by the SPG “No Blackouts” policy, but the Cash & Points option is not. Cash & Points may have blackout dates, and in fact, are frequently not offered on the SPG website when points-only rooms are available. [Tip from Gary Leff is to call the hotel anyway and check for Cash & Points even when they are not appearing on the website. He reports this frequently works for Cash & Points awards.] When you have the Cash & Points award option it is a great way to conserve points on a hotel stay.

Here are some important points regarding Cash & Points award stays:

1. Cash & Points Awards are not applicable to the 5^th Night Free Awards. A 5-night stay requires 5 nights of Cash & Points payment. A “Points-Only” 5^th night free award requires only 4 nights of points-only payment.

2. Cash & Points award stays do not earn Starpoints on the paid cash portion. You are eligible for Starpoints on other eligible hotel charges like dining. A Cash & Points stay may not even show up on your account. Check with the hotel or SPG if no points post on additional charges from your Cash & Points hotel stay.

3. Cash & Points award stays are not eligible for elite qualifying credit. This also applies to points-only award stays.

4. Cash & Points award stays may not be upgraded in advance with supplemental points. Points-only award stays may be upgraded in advance based on availability using additional points. As an SPG Platinum member I have frequently received very nice upgrades on Cash & Points awards.

5. International hotels priced in non-US Dollars will be converted to local currency for payment. (Loyalty Traveler note – some exchange rates are wacky. I have ended up paying 20% less than the US dollar amount and I have paid 20% more than the US dollar amount for Cash & Points stays outside the US.)

 

Yesterday’s Loyalty Traveler post displayed a qualitative table based on a scale where an excellent redemption value for your points results in a cash savings greater than $35 per 1,000 points spent. The table points out the difficulty in getting a high redemption value in the range of $35 per 1,000 Starpoints when redeeming points for SPG high category hotels.

An SPG Category 6 hotel needs to be over $700 per night when spending 20,000 points for a free night in order to realize a cash savings of $35 per 1,000 points redeemed. Most Category 6 hotels are not priced that high in the present hotel travel economic environment.

 The value of Cash & Points becomes apparent when running the numbers for these awards at a Category 6 hotel.

 

 

For example, St. Regis Monarch Beach at Dana Point, California is a SPG Category 6 property. A check of rates for next week shows Cash & Points availability for the dates Tuesday, November 3 to Friday, November 6 for a 3-night stay.

Here are the options: (I am ignoring the $25 per day resort fee in these calculations. The resort fee is additional to numbers shown for the three options. Tax is a confusing issue. Sometimes I have been charged hotel tax on the Cash portion of the Cash & Points award and other times I have not paid the tax. In the past two years the hotel tax has usually been applied to the cash portion for my US hotel Cash & Points award stays.)

St. Regis Monarch Beach Payment Options

Cash & Points: $150 + 8,000 points per night = $450 + 24,000 points

Points-Only: 20,000 points per night = 60,000 points

Cash-Only: $470 per night (includes 10% tax) = $1,410

The SPG redemption options are either spend 60,000 points to save $1,410 or spend 24,000 points to save $915.

$1,410 cash-only rate – $495 cash portion  of Cash & Points rate = $915 equivalent value of points.

(I added 10% hotel tax to the cash portion of $450 for 3 nights = $45 tax for the award stay).

Spending 60,000 points for 3 hotel award nights gives a redemption value of $1,410 ÷ 60,000 = $23.50 per 1,000 Starpoints. 

I rate this as a “Fair” redemption value in my Redemption Quality table shown above for SPG Category 6 hotels.

Spending 24,000 points to save $915 gives a redemption value of $915 ÷ 24,000 = $38.12 per 1,000 Starpoints and now the redemption value rates as “Excellent” in the Loyalty Traveler Category 6 redemption quality scale.

At this rate of redemption value the remaining 36,000 points saved by using Cash & Points rather than 60,000 points for Points-only free nights at the St. Regis Monarch Beach next week has a value of $1,372 for future cash savings on hotel stays.  (36,000 points x $38.12/1,000 points = $1,372)

The economics of Cash & Points provides high value opportunity for Starwood Preferred Guests.

Here are SPG Cash & Points Redemption Quality tables to correspond with the Points-Only tables from yesterday’s Loyalty Traveler post.

SPG Cash & Points Redemption Quality Guide

My only regret is I spent my last two Starwood Preferred Guest Free Weekend Nights at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, California. If I knew a month ago what I know now, I would have burned six free nights at the Mobil 5-star, SPG Category 6 St. Regis Monarch Beach.  I rank this hotel stay in my all-time Fave 5 hotel stays.

And I didn’t even get a room upgrade!

View from Room 146, North Wing, St. Regis Monarch Beach

I have lots of photos of the Monarch Beach resort and I will write my review in several posts to break up the lengthy commentary and include more photos.

St. Regis Monarch Beach – Part 2 – The Hotel

St. Regis Monarch Beach – Part 3 – Pools and Beach

St. Regis Monarch Beach is truly a resort property. There is entertainment for all types. Water is a prominent feature at Monarch Beach. Three main swimming pools, a children’s wading pool, large Jacuzzi pools in two locations, small Jacuzzi pools in the men’s and women’s Spa Gaucin changing rooms, and an in-room deep Roman bath.

The Orange County Pacific Ocean water temperature was quite tolerable in the 85 degree sun of September for a day at the beach compared to our home area of Monterey on the Central Coast of California where swimming is an exercise in cold water endurance.

Golf, fine dining, exercise programs and personal trainers, tennis club, fitness center, beach club, surf lessons, and more await guests.

A mandatory $25 per day resort fee ($27.54 after tax and fees) covers local phone calls, internet access, and spa access for the saunas, Jacuzzis, fitness room, yoga room, and lap pool.

The most amazing part of the hotel stay for Kelley and me were the several hours we found ourselves swimming alone together in the resort pools while several hundred guests occupied themselves elsewhere on or off the premises.

We spotted porpoises leaping out of the water and pelican fly-bys while relaxing at the beach. We gazed on bats feeding in the twilight sky over the golf course from the Botanical Garden gazebo at dusk. We saw bobbing noses of bunnies on the grass lawns and in the shrubs all around the resort grounds throughout the weekend.

Relaxation and rejuvenation were welcome rewards from our weekend stay at the St. Regis Monarch Beach.

I fell through a Crack in the 5-Star Service:

Pre-arrival: I received four separate emails from the St. Regis Monarch Beach. A staff member from St. Regis Monarch Beach even called me three days before my arrival to greet me, ask if I had any needs or special requests, and offer assistance with any arrangements such as spa, restaurant, or golf reservations. One email provided menus for the restaurants and spa services.

Unfortunately, I missed opening the one email offering a room upgrade for additional cash.

Arrival: The hotel was easy to locate in Dana Point using Google Map directions. The main entrance wall has a large water fountain feature.

There were several cars in the entry drive at 6:30pm when we arrived. A valet came over and Kelley directed him on our luggage while I checked in.

Front Desk:  There were three staff members working the front desk. I had no wait. Check-in was prompt.

No room upgrade as an SPG Platinum member. I was surprised to hear the front desk staffer state “Your reservation is for a King bed in a garden view room.”

Well yes, that is what my reservation stated for the room I booked.

This was the first time in at least a couple of years I did not receive any kind of hotel recognition as a SPG Platinum member. Just mentioning the words “Starwood Preferred Guest” and “Platinum member” elicited the response, “We are a resort. We don’t have to provide a platinum amenity.”

This was promptly followed by “Is there anything I can have sent to your room?”

The message seemed clear. The free night in the lowest category room was my only free ride. Any additional perks would require additional cash.

This was the missed upsell opportunity by the St. Regis. I hadn’t read the email before arriving that offered me an opportunity to upgrade my room category for additional cash. The front desk staff did not pitch an upgrade offer. We were celebrating the end of Kelley’s 9-month long cancer treatment and her birthday and I would have paid a supplement for a room with a view.

Parking: I thought it odd but I appreciated the staff member insisting he walk out to my car with me to see if my luggage was being attended to promptly. Our luggage was already loaded on a cart. The parking valet explained my two parking options for $30 per day valet parking with in-and-out privileges or $24 per day for self-park with no in-and-out privileges.

I told them I would self-park since I had a third parking option plan. Stonehill Drive, one long block away from the resort, has about 100 yards of unmetered, unrestricted parking. The street parking was only half-full when I passed it on the way to the resort. Stonehill Drive leads to upscale residential gated communities and is located across from a fire station. Stonehill Drive free parking is less than a ten-minute walk from the hotel. I parked my car there for two days.

The St. Regis self-park garage beneath the hotel allows one free hour and then charges $5 per hour up to the daily self-park fee limit. You must have your ticket validated and pay parking garage charges upstairs at a window just to the right of the front lobby entrance before you can exit the garage.

Kelley was escorted to the room with the luggage as I self-parked the car for my free hour before moving the car to Stonehill Drive for the weekend.

The Room:

St. Regis Monarch Beach has north and south hotel wings. The south wing is the smaller wing located on the conference center side of the resort. Rooms either face interior to the resort pools and gardens, exterior to resort grassy areas and gardens, or face the ocean at the ends of these two wings.

Our room was #146 on the ground floor of the north wing.

The room itself was lovely.  The location within the resort was not so lovely. Our room was a ground floor interior resort facing room. We were one room away from the main central building and our room view gazed out to the wall of a stairway leading to the third floor restaurant Motif. I would place this room location in the bottom 20% of room locations at the resort.

There really aren’t bad room locations at Monarch Beach from my visual observation of the property. Our particular room location at 146 just happened to gaze out on one of the more crowded pedestrian walkways in the resort due to anyone on the upper floors of the north wing taking the elevator down to the First Floor doors exiting the hotel to the grounds and pools. A parade of guests, children, and dogs passed just outside the patio of our room throughout the day heading to and returning from the resort pools.

The advantage of Room 146 was the proximity to the only elevators in the north wing and ground floor access to the resort pools. Last time I stayed at St. Regis Monarch Beach in 2005 I was upgraded to a deluxe ocean view room on a middle floor at the end of the north wing (back then I did receive a complimentary SPG platinum member upgrade). The ocean facing rooms at the west end of the north wing are about a 150-yard walk down long hotel corridors from the elevators.

Having also spent several nights in the St. Regis San Francisco this month I can compare and contrast the two rooms. Bathrooms in each hotel are comparable. They are nice. Monarch Beach rooms, like most San Francisco St. Regis rooms, have shutters on the wall between the bath and bed. San Francisco has a nicer rain shower feature.

Our Monarch Beach standard bathroom had two sinks.

Remede bath products are provided at both St. Regis hotels.

There were plenty of towels for our weekend stay without needing any replacements. My effort at being hotel “green” is to avoid changing towels during a hotel stay when I can get by with the standard room allotment.

The only issue with the room we encountered was the shower leaked onto the marble floor and even to the carpet. There was a slight bit of rot in the doorjamb. We kept pool towels on the floor to absorb water and prevent slippage. The towel covered floor kind of detracted from the beautiful décor.

The beds and bedding are higher quality in San Francisco. The Monarch Beach bed was a little broken down on the edges. I could feel the mattress metal springs on the side.

The other pieces of room furniture were better quality at Monarch Beach.

Our standard room had two desk chairs, a cushion chair, chaise lounge chair and two metal patio chairs, whereas the basic rooms in San Francisco only have one chaise lounge and one or maybe two desk chairs. Overall, I thought the room décor at Monarch Beach was better.

Every room at Monarch Beach has either a patio or balcony and window door.

 

Somehow I overlooked taking a photo of the desk and large slanted floor standing wall mirror used as a prominent design element within the hotel. I think we had so much stuff it was always cluttered.

In the closet were wooden hangars, an iron and board, umbrella, shoe shine brush, and safe.

There are no ice machines which I find to be a drag at any hotel. I find calling for ice an unnecessary inconvenience. Evening maid service provides a bag of ice for the room.

The room description on the Starwood website states rooms have a 47” LCD TV. My measurement of the LG brand screen showed 42”.

The room is listed as 535 square feet on the website room description. My measurement of the room interior was 33 feet from door to window and 13.5 to 14.5 ft wide. This works out to about 470 square feet plus the patio. With the patio the room space is slightly over 535 square feet, but an upper floor room has a much smaller balcony than the patio. The rooms are sizeable and feel spacious.

A hotel guidebook on the desk provided details about the facilities including how to lock the patio door. I actually made a trip to the desk to tell them I thought the patio door lock was broken. Apparently the bellhop had shown Kelley that you must lift the door handle to lock the door and I wasn’t there for the demonstration.

 

 

Resort Charge Policy

The hotel has a daily resort charge of $25.00 that includes the following: spa facilities (steam room, whirlpool, relaxation room, refreshments, shower facilities, sauna); high speed internet access; toll free and local phones calls. Amenities and prices are subject to change without notice.

Missed Upsell Opportunity

Unfortunately for my overall guest experience, I missed opening the email titled “Welcome to the St. Regis Monarch Beach” sent to me Thursday afternoon offering me the opportunity to upgrade my room to a resort view for $30, ocean view for $60, or executive suite for $120.

The St. Regis guest services person who phoned me Wednesday never mentioned this option and the front desk staff member who checked me in never mentioned the upgrade for cash option. I actually just saw the email today, two days after returning home, as I was looking over the four emails I received last week from Monarch Beach regarding my hotel stay.

A different title for the email suggesting an upgrade opportunity would have caught my attention when scanning email. The first email I received on Tuesday was titled, ”Welcome to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort” and the email contents simply stated my reservation information with the following message:

 

Dear Richard Garrido,

Congratulations. You have successfully redeemed your Starpoints. Thank you for selecting The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort. It is our pleasure to confirm your reservation, and we look forward to welcoming you once again as a guest to our hotel. Best regards, Johnny So General Manager The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort

 

On Thursday, the same day I booked a second night at Monarch Beach using my last free weekend night, I received another email also titled, ”Welcome to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort” that simply showed my second reservation confirmation number in the email content line.

I never opened this since I thought it simply stated my reservation information similar to the first email.

Instead the contents of this email read:

Dear Richard Garrido,

Congratulations. You have successfully redeemed your Starpoints. Thank you for selecting The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, California’s Only Mobil Five-Star Resort. It is our pleasure to confirm your reservation, and we look forward to welcoming you as a guest to our hotel. We are pleased extend to you an exclusive offer to upgrade your room from $30 per night. Click image to the right for details. Note: Special Conditions regarding the spa lap pool and Jacuzzi exist at this time.  Best regards, Johnny So General Manager The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort

 

The other interesting feature of this email is the “Special Conditions” link makes no reference whatsoever to the spa lap pool.

The image on the right regarding room upgrades linked to this page:

Resort View Room = $30 per night.

Ocean View Room Upgrade = $60 per night.

Executive Suite Upgrade = $120 per night.

 

While I do mind paying $50 to park at the hotel when I can park down the street for free, or $150 for breakfast, I would have gladly paid $60 to $120 to upgrade my hotel room if I had been offered that option at check-in.

 

 

 

 

SPG Gold and Platinum member registration opened today for two SPG elite fast-track promotions. Apparently some non-elite members are also eligible for Double Stays/Nights. An eligible elite member may only choose one of the two offers.  SPG Promo link is found at www.SPG.com/promos for eligible members. If you are not currently SPG Gold or Platinum, then give it a shot anyway.

Important Note: These promotions are mutually exclusive. You can only choose one of these two promotion offers as a Platinum member and the choice can’t be changed.

SPG Double Nights/Stays for 2009 FAQ link (SPG Gold, Platinum, and selected Preferred members)

SPG Nights/Stays Advance to 2010 FAQ link (SPG Platinum members only)

 

Double Nights/Stays Elite Fast-Track Promotion September 15 to December 15.

All paid nights and stays from September 15 through December 15, 2009 will count double for elite status qualification in 2009. Gold elite requires 10 stays or 25 nights in 2009 to re-earn SPG elite member status through February 2011. Platinum elite requires 25 stays or 50 nights.

Assume a current SPG Gold member has 4 stays with 9 nights. With this promotion the member needs just 3 more stays (counts as 6 stays) during the double stays promotion period to reach 10 stays for the 2009 year. The member will requalify for SPG Gold elite through February 2011.

Alternatively, the Gold Member needs 8 nights (counts as 16 nights) to re-earn Gold Elite for 2010 with 25 nights.

This SPG Gold member can hotel hop three 1-night stays or take one 8-night vacation to maintain elite status.

Upgrade your elite status to Platinum

Platinum elite for 2010 requires either 25 stays or 50 nights in 2009. The member above sitting with just 4 stays and 9 nights in 2009 would need 21 more stays or 41 more nights for upgrading from Gold elite to Platinum.

Double Stays reduces this qualification requirement from 21 stays to 11 paid stays or 41 nights to 21 paid nights with the Nights Count Double promotion. That still might be a hard threshold to reach for many travelers struggling this year with jobs and finances.  Keep in mind that Thanksgiving and the first two weeks of December are among the lowest hotel rate weeks of the year in many locations around the USA.

Important Note: No retroactive credit for double stays or nights prior to registration. 

You want to sign up before your next Starwood Hotel stay if choosing the double nights/stays option. The registration period is open through November 30, but remember this important detail: NO RETROACTIVE CREDIT for Double Nights/Stays.  If you stay September 20, but haven’t yet registered for this promotion choice, then the night and stay will not be doubled.

 

Elite Fast-Track Promotion Choice #2 for current SPG Platinum Members:

Nights/Stays Advance for 2010 Elite Qualification

All nights/stays earned from October 1 through December 31 count for 2009 elite qualification and rollover into a Nights/Stays Advance for 2010 elite qualification. This promotion is retroactive. As long as you sign up for Nights/Stays Advance by November 30, then all eligible stays/nights from October 1 will be counted and advanced to 2010 elite status.

This offer is a great deal for travelers who expect to still be traveling in 2010 and 2011. This is what I chose because I am already poised to reach Platinum requalification in 2009.

Example of how advance nights/stays works:

Assume a current Platinum member has 15 stays, 32 nights in 2009.

The member needs either 10 stays or 18 nights to re-earn Platinum elite for 2010.

If the Platinum member registers for advance nights/stays, and completes 10 stays with 16 nights during the final three months of 2009, the numbers look like this:

15 stays (Jan 1-Sep 30) + 10 stays (Oct. 1 – Dec 31) = 25 stays in 2009

Requalify for 2010 Platinum elite membership.

 

The member advances the 10 stays from October 1 – December 31, 2009 to 2010 elite qualification credit. (SPG states advance credit will be posted by January 31, 2010.) The SPG Platinum Member will only need 15 stays during 2010 to requalify for 2011 Platinum elite with 25 stays.

 

Counting nights the Platinum member has 32 nights (Jan 1-Sep 30) + 16 nights (Oct. 1 – Dec 31). The member finishes 2009 with 48 nights which does not meet the Platinum requalification level. This does not matter if the member requalified with 25 stays. The nights still advance to 2010.

The SPG Platinum member will start 2010 with 16 nights and 10 stays.

This sample member will have already requalified by the end of 2009 for 2011 SPG Gold elite with the 10 stays advance. Platinum requalification for 2011 will take either 34 nights or 15 stays in 2010. And remember this fact: SPG has offered double stays/nights promotion during some period every year for many years.

This is a good marketing move for Starwood Hotels to get more cash from this Loyalty Traveler in 2009. I was ready to move more business to Hyatt, IHG, and Hilton for the remainder of 2009. Sorry Marriott, I still feel your elite membership requirements are too high (Platinum = 75 nights), but I am recommending your Courtyard in Hadley for a friend visiting Northampton, Mass next month.

 

Quick comments and advice:

The Nights/Stays Advance choice can position the current SPG Platinum elite member for elite membership in 2010 and 2011. This is an excellent time to bump up your travel during the relatively low room rate months of November and December for many locations. This is also a good choice for someone who thinks 2010 might be reduced travel. You can reduce the hotel stays required for elite requalification in 2010 and still maintain SPG Platinum elite membership.

My advice to anyone who believes they can manage at least 13 stays or 25 nights in Starwood Hotels in 2010 is go for Platinum elite membership and use the Nights/Stays count double promotion if that makes the difference between retaining Gold or advancing to Platinum elite.

One constant I try to maintain in my annual hotel travel is SPG Platinum elite. I feel the investment in Starwood has provided good value in my hotel stays with the 500 points platinum amenity for most stays (250 points Four Points, aloft, element) , the complimentary room upgrades, and the annual gift (for 2009 this was a free night  up to Category 5 hotel).

Go with Double Nights/Stays if that will allow you to reach or maintain Platinum elite during the September 15-December 15 promotion period. You will maintain Platinum elite through February 2011. You will hopefully reap some nice benefits and value from 2010 Starwood stays.

Based on the history of SPG promotions there will probably be another double stays/nights promotion in 2010.

And the game goes on.

FlyerTalk thread on SPG Nights Count Double/Advance Nights promotions.