Previously, Starwood points could be extended by only the following activities:

1) Stay at a Starwood property
* Westin
* St. Regis
* Le Meridien
* aloft
* element
* Sheraton
* Four Points
* The Luxury Collection
2)Incidental spending (counts even during an ineligible stay)
3)Use the Starwood American Express card
4)Eating at a Starwood property and giving your SPG number when you pay your bill
5)Be a Gold or Platinum member

These activités would not extend your points
1)Redeeming points
2)Transferring points
3)Purchasing points
4)Taking surveys

Recently, the Terms and Conditions have changed.

4.2 Forfeiting Starpoints. Except for SVO Owners to whom the obligations in Section 9 apply, Starpoints earned or otherwise obtained by an SPG Member will forfeit without notice if the SPG Member becomes Inactive, even if the SPG Member has achieved SPG Lifetime Gold or SPG Lifetime Platinum status. An SPG Member is considered “Inactive” if during a 12 month period: (a) the SPG Member has not had an Eligible Stay at an SPG Participating Hotel; (b) the SPG Member has not earned or redeemed any Starpoints, or (c) the SPG Member’s account has been cancelled.

From Starwood Lurker himself: “Just to clarify, it should be read as being a) or b) or c). Any Starpoints activity resulting from earning or redeeming will now count towards keeping an account active.”

This change makes keeping those Starwood points from expiring much easier now. Thanks Starwood!

Starwood will give you 100 Free Starwood points if you pledge to turn off your lights for one hour from 8:30 to 9:30 pm local time on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

Thanks to Dan’s Deals and Gary

Add two users at this link to get 1000 Starpoint Bonus per user. Each user must spend $150 within 90 days of receiving their card.

Thanks to Dan’s Deals.

The Starwood Cyber Monday deals are live now via their Facebook page.

Make sure to “like” them in order to get access to the deals. Click on the “Explore SPG” tab to be taken to the list of hotels to book. You can also call 866-716-8147 and ask for DOORLTO. You must book by 11:59 pm EST on November 29, 2010.

Starwood is having a Cyber Monday promotion tomorrow, November 22nd November 29th.

They will have deals at over 60 top resorts and you must book by December 3, 2010 for stays between January 1 and April 30, 2011.

BONUS: If you go to the Starwood Facebook page and “like” them, you can book these deals today starting at 6 PM Eastern November 28th.

EDIT: Thanks to Erndog for pointing out errors with the dates

Participating hotels are:
Arizona
The Phoenician
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
The Westin Kierland Villas
The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa
Sheraton Desert Oasis
Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa

California
The St. Regis Monarch Beach
Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa
The Westin Monache Resort, Mammoth
The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa
The Westin Mission Hills Villas

Colorado
The St. Regis Resort Aspen
The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa
Sheraton Steamboat Resort

Florida
The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa
Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel
The Westin Beach Resort and Spa, Fort Lauderdale
Walt Disney World Swan
Walt Disney World Dolphin
W Fort Lauderdale

Georgia
The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa

Hawaii
The St. Regis Princeville Resort
The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas
The Westin Maui Resort & Spa
The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas
Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort
The Royal Hawaiian
Sheraton Kauai Resort
Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa
Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa
Sheraton Princess Kaiulani
Sheraton Waikiki

South Carolina
The Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa

Texas
The Westin La Cantera Resort

Utah
The St. Regis Deer Valley

Vermont
The Equinox Resort & Spa

Canada
Le Westin Resort & Spa, Tremblant
The Westin Trillium House, Blue Mountain
The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver
The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa, Victoria

The Caribbean
The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico
W Retreat & Spa – Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
The Westin Aruba Resort & Spa
The Westin St. John Resort & Villas, USVI
The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa
The Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa, Grand Cayman
Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort, Bahamas
Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino

French Polynesia
The St. Regis Bora Bora
Le Meridien Bora Bora
Le Meridien Tahiti

Mexico
The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort
The Westin Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta
The Westin Resort & Spa, Cancun
The Westin Resort and Spa Los Cabos
Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Golf and Spa Resort Los Cabos
Sheraton Buganvilias Resort and Convention Center
Temozon

To commemorate Stieg Larsson’s film “The girl who played with fire”, there is a contest to win a trip to Sweden.

Entries close on October 1, 2010. The Grand Prize includes airfare on Scandinavian Airlines, hotel stay at Sheraton Stockholm, and Stockholm passes.

Sweden is one of my favorite places as I have vacationed and worked in Stockholm. The majority of Swedes speak fantastic English. Stockholm is really gorgeous in the summer time.

One of the major exports from Sweden is music. If you think of all the bands that have hailed from Sweden: ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base,The Cardigans, Peter Bjorn and John and perhaps some that you haven’t heard of like Dungen, Bob Hund, Popsicle, the Sounds, and the Radio Dept.

One of my favorite bands from Sweden is Bob Hund. Bob Hund hail from the south of Sweden, referred to as Skåne. Those from Skåne have a very different dialect, similar to the Texas drawl.

Here is one of my favorite songs from them called “Istället för musik, förvirring (Instead of music, confusion)”.

Tomorrow, American Express Daily Wish will be giving away 10 opportunities to receive a $250 statement credit when you spend $500 or more for your room at any Starwood® Hotel or Resort worldwide from July 7 to October 31, 2010.

Eligible at these brands:
Westin Hotels & Resorts®
W Hotels®
Sheraton® Hotels & Resorts
St. Regis® Hotels & Resorts
The Luxury Collection®
Le Méridien®
Four Points® by Sheraton
aloftSM
elementSM

There are only 10 and these go very fast so chances are slim of actually winning this but it’s worth a shot. These will post the time of the actual giveaway tomorrow.

I just received a letter from Starwood offering complimentary elite Gold Status in their program.

This means more than likely that this is a targeted promotion, but it’s worth a shot for you to try.

Simply enter in your Delta Skymiles number at this link.

We decided to head down for a four day weekend in St. George, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn St. George to pick up some additional Priority Club points towards our goal of 10 more free nights at Intercontinental, or 300000 points.

At check-in, I inquired about a room upgrade due to our Platinum status and was told that all the rooms were booked. I’m not sure that was true, but it was late and I didn’t want to argue with them.

We had breakfast at The Bear Paw Coffee Company which is my kid’s favorite place to eat breakfast.

Off to Las Vegas, to stay at the new Westin Element hotel in Summerlin with our Starwood points. Billed as an environmentally friendly hotel, I was curious to see how it stacked up.

The hotel itself is a bit off of the strip but right near I-215 and therefore we had no problem getting around to other places.

Ironically, the hybrid only car parking was empty at the environmentally friendly hotel.

The room was large with two flat screen TVs. One was in the master bedroom with the king Heavenly bed and the other was in the living area where the fold out couch was located.

Living Area

A full kitchen with a stove and refrigerator as well. There are no ice machines in the hotel as we were told by the hotel front desk that it wastes water so we had to do with our ice tray in the freezer that the previous guest had left half empty.

The pool out back was plenty big with two giant gazebos and plenty of chairs. The pool ranged from 3 1/2 feet to 4 1/2 feet – the perfect depth for our kids 6 and 8.

The lobby area was very clean. They serve a large breakfast in the mornings. On weekends they have egg white breakfast sandwiches on bagels, pancakes, eggs, and sausage along with four types of cereals. On weekdays they have egg white and regular egg breakfast burritos along with the cereal selection.

There is also orange juice, yoghurt, and milk. It was plenty of food and the entire family was fed enough.

For our dining experience while we were there, we went to my favorite restaurant Hash House A Go Go. They have “twisted farm food”.

This place is incredibly good with huge portions. It puts Cheesecake Factory to shame in food quality. I opted for the fried chicken and waffles, which isn’t necessarily in line with my life style change. Perfectly cooked fried chicken with buttermilk waffles and fried leeks on top.

My daughter opted for the mega pancake with eggs and bacon.

I highly recommend this restaurant next time you are in Las Vegas.

Overall we were please with the Element Hotel. The staff was friendly, the workout room was plenty, large pool, nice and spacious rooms – and best of all, free with our points.

Welcome to the most wonderful place to stay during the most wonderful time of the year. Sheratons of the Twin Cities invite you and your loved ones to experience the Minneapolis area this season for pre and post-holiday shopping.

Your experience includes:
$100 Macy’s® gift card each night of your stay
Macy’s 10% Discount Visitor Coupon for each night of your stay
Great night’s rest on our Signature Sweet Sleeper Bed™
Offer valid all days of week for stays November 16 – March 31, 2010

The rate for this hotel is $140 so this a very good deal for anyone in the Minneapolis area.