Introduction
United Global First Lounge San Francisco
Lufthansa First Class San Francisco to Munich
Le Meridien Munich
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich, Swiss Business Class Munich to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich, Swiss First Class Zurich to Bangkok
St. Regis Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Ritz Carlton Hong Kong
Exploring Hong Kong
United Club Hong Kong and Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge Hong Kong
Asiana Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon
Hyatt Regency Incheon Airport
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul Incheon
Asiana First Class Seoul Incheon to Frankfurt
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Seattle
Four Seasons Seattle

Le Meridien is just a five minute walk from the train station, so from the airport to the hotel took about 50 minutes by train.

Hotel exterior

Once inside we proceeded to check-in, which was located towards the right. The agent was very friendly and I inquired about the possibility of a suite upgrade, though after checking she informed me they only had a king executive room available for an upgrade. As it turned out the executive room was really nice, so I was perfectly happy with that. She offered us a city map and asked which Platinum amenity we wanted. I was quite excited to finally be able to try Starwood’s new breakfast amenity that kicked in on March 1, so we went with that. For the record we were staying on cash and points, so the rate was 4,800 points plus $90USD.

The lobby was pretty typical of Le Meridien hotels, with lots of neon lights and a bit of a funky design.

Lobby

Lobby

We were assigned a room on the 6th floor right next to the elevator.

Hallway

The room was pretty big, especially by European standards, and had lots of “open” space. It featured a rather firm king bed facing a flat screen TV and desk.

Entrance

Bed

Desk and TV

Minibar

The room had a window overlooking the courtyard, which worked out well since it meant there was virtually no noise coming from the outside.

Courtyard

Courtyard

The bathroom featured both a tub and walk in shower, as well as a toilet and sink.

Sink

Tub

Shower

Toilet

My one major complaint about the hotel is that they only have wired internet in rooms. That’s totally unacceptable in 2012, since it means you can only connect one device, not to mention have to sit at a desk. The only upside was that the internet was pretty fast.

We headed to bed fairly early, despite it being St. Patrick’s Day, and woke up early as well. At around 7AM we headed down to the restaurant for breakfast, where we found out we’d have access to the full buffet as Starwood Platinum members.

The spread was spectacular, consisting of just about everything imaginable. Most importantly, they had pretzels. Mmm, pretzels. Service was also attentive, with plates constantly be cleared and drink refills being offered.

Restaurant

Breakfast buffet

Breakfast buffet

Breakfast buffet

The hotel also featured a fairly nice gym on the ground floor, which I used once during our stay.

Gym

We only had a few hours to walk around Munich, and fortunately the weather was perfect. It was sunny and maybe 70 degrees, so what more could you ask for? We headed to the pedestrian zone in the city center (one of the nicest anywhere, in my opinion) where we sat down for some ice coffee.

City center

City center

Rathaus

Ice coffee

By around 2PM we headed back to the train station to get to the airport by 3PM for our flight to Bangkok.

On the whole I’d say Le Meridien is a great value with a good location. Furthermore, as a Platinum member I felt their breakfast benefit was very generous. My only major complaint is that they don’t have wireless internet, which I hope they’ll change soon. But I’d return in a heartbeat and recommend this place.

On March 1 Starwood introduced several new benefits for Gold and Platinum members, including complimentary continental breakfast for Platinum members. The complimentary breakfast was added as an option in place of the other welcome amenities, meaning you have to forgo the 500 point welcome bonus in order to receive it.

I was rather skeptical of the new benefit since the last time I stayed at a Le Meridien property and had continental breakfast included in the rate it consisted of toast and orange juice.

Anyway, I stayed at Le Meridien Munich last night and chose breakfast as the welcome amenity. That night a voucher was sent up to my room which read as follows:

At the entrance to the restaurant I presented the voucher, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that we had access to the full buffet, which was fantastic.

It consisted of just about anything you could want, from several hot options to all kinds of freshly baked breads and pretzels to fresh fruit and muesli. I was actually prepared to pay the difference in cost for the full buffet, though that didn’t even seem to be needed.

Kudos to Starwood. So far, so good!

And this is quite a nice hotel too. I’ll have a full review of the hotel in the coming weeks.

Here’s a gem. Through March 31, 2012, US Airways is offering a 50% bonus on points transfers from their hotel partners to Dividend Miles. There’s no need to register, and the bonus points post 6-8 weeks after the qualifying activity.

The best transfer bonus here would be with Starwood Preferred Guest. SPG points transfer at a 1:1 ratio to US Airways Dividend Miles, and for every 20,000 points you transfer you get a 5,000 point bonus. That means transferring 20,000 SPG points would earn you 37,500 Dividend Miles during this promotion. That means you’re basically earning 1.875 US Airways Dividend Miles per SPG point, which is an amazing transfer ratio.

I’ve on many occasions purchased US Airways miles when they were selling for 1.5 cents each. Using that value, through this promotion I would be getting 2.85 cents of value per SPG point, which is more than I value them (2.5 cents each). I know many will say they can get more value out of points, though this isn’t retail value I’m stating, but rather their value to me. Now that US Airways has raised the cost of purchased miles to over 1.8 cents each, it’s even more of a no brainer for me.

When making the transfer, keep in mind that the transfer limit is 79,999 points per day. That means for all practical purposes you won’t want to convert more than 60,000 points per 24 hours, since that would max out the 5,000 point bonus for every 20,000 points you transfer.

The one thing I’m trying to figure out is what this part of the terms and conditions means:

Dividend Miles members will earn only one bonus when they transfer hotel points into Dividend Miles during the promotion.

I’m not sure if that means you can only earn the bonus points for one transfer, if the points all post at once, or what, but I’ll certainly be looking for clarification on that before making any transfers.

Transferring Membership Rewards points to US Airways ~1:1 ratio

It’s almost never a good idea to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to SPG, though through March 31 Membership Rewards is running a 50% transfer bonus for SPG. So while the transfer ratio is usually 3:1, it’s now 2:1, meaning 40,000 Membership Rewards points earns you 20,000 SPG points, which still isn’t a good deal. That being said, through the US Airways transfer promotion you can convert those 20,000 SPG points to 37,500 US Airways Dividend Miles. So when all is said and done your 40,000 Membership Rewards points will net you 37,500 miles, close to a 1:1 ratio.

I’m not suggesting everyone run and transfer their points now, because I do believe Membership Rewards points just got much more valuable due to Singapore Airlines’ new policy of allowing saver awards in their new first and business class products. But I have for a long time been hoping that US Airways Dividend Miles becomes a Membership Rewards transfer partner, and this is about the closest I’ve seen to that for those of you looking to “cash out” your Membership Rewards points.

I’ll certainly be transferring a minimum of 60,000 SPG points, though won’t be converting any Membership Rewards points to SPG in order to take care of this promotion.

Coming up shortly: a summary of the Dividend Miles program and some of the best award redemptions it offers.

Via Starwood Lurker, Starwood is offering 1,000 SPG points for completing a survey on your social media habits by this Friday, March 9. You should include your SPG number in the last field asking for your name and email address, and the points are supposed to post within 30 days.

One of the things I appreciate about you guys is that you set me straight when I have crazy ideas. Yes, maybe in retrospect moving to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal wasn’t the brightest idea ever, though that’s why I run these ideas past you guys before “executing.”

I have another idea, but this time I’m fairly certain it’s genius, though I’ll run it past you guys anyway. I’ve decided to move to Tianjin, China. I know what you’re thinking: what a brilliant idea, go for it! Why Tianjin, you ask?

Well, the St. Regis Tianjin just opened a few months ago, and the rates are rather good, about ~$140USD/night.

My plan is to move there and live on the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts rate, which includes complimentary daily breakfast, guaranteed 4PM check-out, a room upgrade, and a $100 food and beverage credit per stay. Add that to my Starwood Platinum benefits, and I’ll be living the high life for pennies on the dollar.

The only downside is that the food and beverage credit is per stay as opposed to per night, so I guess I’ll have to stay at the Westin every other night. Or maybe I need to move there with a friend and we need to have alternating reservations every other night.

Anyone else want to move to Tianjin with me?

You’ve gotta love the value American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts can provide…

Several weeks ago Starwood announced that they would be revamping their loyalty program, adding several new benefits for super-frequent guests. While they didn’t add a new top tier above Platinum status, they did start to differentiate between Platinum guests that requalify on 25 stays per year and those that spend 75+ nights per year at Starwood hotels. They added benefits like confirmed suite upgrades, 24 hour stays, free breakfast, and even lifetime status.

Anyway, the changes kicked in on March 1, and the one thing I was most curious to see the execution of was the complimentary breakfast benefit. Platinum members now have the option of selecting continental breakfast as a Platinum amenity at check-in, in place of 500 Starwood points or a welcome gift. The reason I was so curious about the execution is because I stayed at the Le Meridien San Francisco a few weeks ago on a Fine Hotels & Resorts rate, which includes continental breakfast, and was offered orange juice and a croissant. Yes, that’s technically continental breakfast, though certainly not in the “spirit” of continental breakfast in North America.

Starwood has promised they’ll have “brand standards” as to what a continental breakfast consists of, though it appears some hotels are off to a rough start with the new benefit, as noted in this FlyerTalk thread. While some reports are good, others note that some hotels are pretty stingy with the benefit. One FlyerTalk member notes that the W Los Angeles Westwood offers a $12.50 breakfast credit, enough for juice and a muffin. Another member notes that the Westin Jersey City set up a table outside the restaurant for Platinum members (with no seating) containing coffee, orange juice, and muffins, instead of giving them access to the continental breakfast inside the restaurant.

So while I trust Starwood will follow up with these hotels, it seems the benefit is off to a somewhat rocky start.

Reader sendaiben even notes that the St. Regis Bangkok previously offered Platinum members complimentary breakfast (as is the case with many hotels in Asia), though now you have to choose breakfast and the 500 point Platinum amenity. Anyway, it’s hardly surprising and the hotel is perfectly reasonable for doing so, though if you previously planned your Starwood stays well by frequenting properties that offered free breakfast, you might just come out behind with the new benefit.

I have several Starwood stays over the coming weeks, so can’t wait to see how they handle “breakfast.”

Have you guys had any experiences with the new continental breakfast benefit yet? Would love to hear your experiences!

Through March 31, 2012, American Express is offering a 50% bonus on the transfer of Membership Rewards points to Starwood Preferred Guest. The usual transfer ratio for Membership Rewards to Starwood Preferred Guest is 3:1, so through this promotion it’s 2:1.

I’ve always found the transfer ratio from Membership Rewards to Starwood Preferred Guest to be pretty interesting. Both credit cards are issued by American Express, though the transfer ratio between the two is awful. Compare that to Chase Ultimate Rewards points, where the points currency can be transferred at a favorable ratio to just about any of the other programs that feature Chase affiliated cards, including United, Korean Air, Southwest, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, etc.

Anyway, is this a deal worth taking advantage of? I’d say no, unless you have a specific use in mind where you’ve crunched the numbers and the ratio works out favorably.

I’d say that a Starwood Preferred Guest point is worth about 50% more than a Membership Rewards point nowadays, so even through this offer you’re not getting a good deal (you’d be breaking even if a Starwood Preferred Guest point were worth twice as much as a Membership Rewards point).

Now, if you do want to use your Membership Rewards points for hotel stays, making a transfer to Starwood may be the best option, though typically you’re best off using Membership Rewards points for transfers to airline mileage programs. Keep in mind Starwood points can also be transferred to about two dozen airline programs at a 1:1 ratio, and for every 20,000 points you transfer you get a 5,000 point bonus, meaning you’re really earning 1.25 miles per Starwood point.

So to break down the math on that, in order to get 25,000 American miles through this offer you’d have to transfer 40,000 Membership Rewards points to Starwood Preferred Guest. That would net you 20,000 Starwood points, which can be converted into 25,000 American AAdvantage miles.

I suspect we’ll see another Delta SkyMiles transfer bonus soon, which would be a much better use of Membership Rewards points in my opinion.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Starwood’s annual hotel category adjustments. Not surprisingly a lot more hotels went up in cost than down, so this is the last day to book stays before some hotels change their categories. You can see which hotels go up a category and which hotels go down a category here.

While the categories for some hotels change tomorrow, keep in mind that this is all based on when you book and not when you stay. So if you have a future stay planned, check to see whether your hotel goes up a category or not, so you can lock in a booking if it does. Conversely, if your hotel goes down a category tomorrow, you should be able to rebook to save some points.

I locked in a stay at the W Santiago for September for 10,000 points per night, given that the cost goes up to 12,000 points per night tomorrow.

Is anyone else making any last minute bookings in anticipation of the changes?

As they do every year, Starwood has just unveiled their annual hotel category adjustments. While the actual hotel categories stay the same, the categories that individual hotels are in can change. You can see a listing of hotels with category changes here.

I haven’t analyzed the changes too closely yet, but the chart is definitely worth looking at if you’re planning on a points redemption soon. The changes kick in on March 1, 2012, so in many cases it will make sense to make a booking now before costs go up. For hotels where costs go down, you can always rebook after March 1 once the prices have dropped. But from a quick look at the chart it’s clear that a lot more hotels are going up in price than down in price.

My next points redemption was going to be at the St. Regis Bangkok, though I’m shocked to see it went from a category 5 to category 6 hotel. Even on cash and points I thought the hotel was already overpriced as a category 5 given how cheap luxury hotels are in Bangkok, though as a category 6 it’s a total rip off. Revenue rates are rarely over $200USD per night, and now the hotel will cost 20,000+ points per night, or 8,000 points plus $150 when redeeming cash and points? You’ve gotta be kidding me…

I’m also going to Santiago in September, so am going to confirm my booking now for the W Santiago, which is going from a category 4 to category 5 hotel.

On the plus side, I see the Grosvenor House in Dubai, which I’ve wanted to visit, is going from a category 6 to category 5 hotel.

What do you guys thing about the annual adjustment? Positive? Negative? Indifferent?

Links:
Starwood Personal American Express
Starwood Business American Express

For years the credit card of the savvy traveler has been the Starwood American Express. I’ve had it since I was 18, and I think it can only be described as the most reliable and consistent travel rewards credit card. Yes, new credit cards have come and gone, though the Starwood American Express is one of the few cards that accrues points that really haven’t been devalued in a long time.

The beauty of the Starwood American Express is that it accrues one of the most flexible points currencies out there, Starwood Preferred Guest points. Not only are they great for hotel redemptions, but they can also efficiently be converted to miles in over a dozen airline programs.

Sign-Up Bonus

Presently both the personal and business credit cards come with a 25,000 point sign-up bonus. Both cards offer 10,000 points after the first purchase, and an additional 15,000 points after spending $5,000 within six months. It’s worth noting that in the past Starwood has occasionally run promotions whereby they offer 30,000 points as a sign-up bonus, though I’ve never seen it go higher than that.

How to Earn Points

The card accrues one point per dollar spent on all purchases, with the exception of spend at Starwood hotels, which accrues two points per dollar. On one hand it’s frustrating that they don’t have category bonuses like some other cards (the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers double points on dining and travel), though most would argue that Starwood points are the most valuable points currency out there.

How to Redeem Points

Transfer to Airline Miles with a 25% Bonus

Starwood points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to about two dozen airline partners, giving them one of the most comprehensive airline partnerships of any program. There’s no other points currency with as much flexibility as Starwood. But here’s the best part — when you transfer points in increments of 20,000, you get a 5,000 point bonus, meaning you’re actually earning 1.25 miles per dollar spent on the credit card.

Cash & Points

One of the most lucrative ways to redeem Starwood points is by making a cash and points hotel redemption. Instead of paying completely with points, you can get a great deal by mixing cash and points for a stay. The values are phenomenal, and I’ve used this many times to stay at $250+ per night hotels in Asia and Europe for between 2,800 points plus $45, and 4,800 points plus $90.

Fifth Night Free Awards

While cash and points redemptions are capacity controlled, standard room redemptions are not. Starwood’s award chart is pretty good for room redemptions, especially for category 1-5 hotels. Furthermore, when you stay for four nights on points at category 3-7 Starwood hotels, the fifth night is free.

For more tips on redeeming Starwood points, see this TravelSort post.

Other Cool Features

Earn Five Elite Qualifying Nights and Two Elite Stay Credits Annually

To earn elite status faster you get five nights and two stay credits towards elite status annually. Given that I would otherwise be mattress running in order to maintain my Starwood Platinum status, that more than pays for the annual fee.

The Annual Fee is Waived for the First Year

And it’s only $65 per year after that, which is among the lowest in the industry.

Starwood Preferred Plus Status

As long as you have the Starwood American Express you get Preferred Plus status, which gets you 4PM late check-out and room upgrades upon availability. It’s basically Gold status minus the 50% points bonus.

Starwood Gold Status When You Spend $30,000 Annually

While Starwood Gold status isn’t the best mid-tier elite status, it has gotten quite a bit more valuable after Starwood’s recent program overhaul.

Verdict

The Starwood American Express remains one of the “must have” credit cards for points junkies. If I could only have one credit card I’d probably go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card given the lack of foreign transaction fees, double points on dining and travel, and 7% annual points dividend. But the Starwood American Express is one of my top two cards, given the further diversification it affords me. Between the Starwood American Express and Chase Sapphire Preferred card I can transfer points to virtually any major hotel chain or airline at a favorable ratio, and that’s flexibility that can’t be beat.

Links:
Starwood Personal American Express
Starwood Business American Express

Full disclosure: I receive a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above links. As always I will only provide a referral link if it offers the best available sign-up bonus.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.