2010 Fall Promotions Starwood Hotels Starwood Preferred Guest

SPG’s Double and Triple Points Fall Promo is Weak

August 20 update: The official link went online a few hours after I wrote this post:

SPG promotion Every Night Counts Double/Triple Points.

The only additional point to this post’s analysis is to check this list of participating properties. Around 150  Starwood Hotels worldwide are not participating. (See the end of this post for the list of non-participating Starwood Hotels for double/triple points promotion.)

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The rumor on FlyerTalk is the fall 2010 promotion from SPG is double base points from September 8 – December 15 for one to nine hotel nights and then triple points, applied retroactively, if 10 nights or more are stayed during the promotion period.

The promotion details are just a rumor since no official word has been released by Starwood.

This is a weak SPG promotion in my opinion.

Loyalty traveler analysis of SPG Double and Triple Points

Double points and triple points are always calculated using base points earning. Starwood Preferred Guest members earn base points at the rate of 2 points per $1 in hotel spend, room rate tax excluded, but incidental spend included in base spending.

Spend $100 on one night and you get 200 bonus points from this promotion. That can be considered a $7 bonus based on the purchase rate of points $35/1,000 points. A 7% rebate is nothing to get too excited about. Stay ten nights and you earn a 15% points rebate value. There is little potential value leverage with this offer.

Double Points at $150 per night base spend at Starwood Hotels.

  • 5 nights x $150 x 2 points/$1 earns 1,500 base points.
  • $750 = 1,500 base Starpoints.
  • Double points = 1,500 bonus points.
  • Total points earned after $750 and 5 nights = 3,000 Starpoints

3,000 points is a decent rebate for a single 5-night stay. But if your travel pattern is more likely to be five 1-night stays then the average 300 points per stay in promotion bonus points is not so great compared to many SPG past promotions.

SPG Gold and 10 nights for triple Starpoints

Assume SPG Gold member with one 1-night stay, three 2-night stays and one 3-night stay has 10 nights during promotion period. Assume average rate is $150 per night in base spend.

Triple Starpoints: $1,500 for 10 nights = 10,500 total points

  • Base points = $1,500 x 2 points/$1 = 3,000 points.
  • Elite Bonus = $1,500 x 1 point/$1 = 1,500 points.
  • Triple points bonus = $1,500 x 4 points/$1 = 6,000 points.

6,000 bonus points is not that big a bonus after ten hotel nights. I recall getting 7,000 bonus points for three stays in 1999. And back then the highest hotel category was 12,000 points per night compared to 30,000 points per night now. The triple points bonus after $1,500 and ten nights works out to 600 bonus points per night. Only stay nine nights and the bonus is just double base points or 300 points per night on a $150 per night room spend.

Over the years I have a rough estimate of 1,000 bonus points per hotel stay from SPG promotion offers and this offer falls short of what I consider to be an average SPG promotion.

After $1,500 and 10 hotel nights you will earn 10,000 points – sufficient for a free category 4 hotel night. The potential value for 6,000 points earned with the promotion bonus is around $210 ($35/1,000 points) for $1,500 in spend.  A 14% loyalty rebate value in promotion bonus points is the kind of return on loyalty investment that will likely drive the elite member to consider another hotel loyalty program for a better offer this fall. Non-elite SPG members may be looking to Hotwire and Priceline for bigger discounts.

Compare to Hilton Hotels and the Hilton double points promotion for the fall period.

Hilton base points = 10 points/$1 and with Points & Points earning preference you earn an additional 5 points per $1 for 15 points per dollar. The double points offer promotion results in 25 points/$1.

HHonors points earned: $1,500 = 41,250 points (sufficient for a category 6 award night)

  • Base points = $1,500 x 10 points/$1 = 15,000 points.
  • Points & Points = $1,500 x 5 points/$1 = 7,500 points
  • Elite Bonus = $1,500 x 2.5 points/$1 = 3,750 points.
  • Double points bonus = $1,500 x 10 points/$1 = 15,000 points.

HHonors double points promotion is only based on money spent. Spend $1,500 and earn 15,000 bonus points from the double base points offer.

Starwood Preferred Guest’s bonus is dependent only on the number of nights stayed. Spend $1,500 on 8 nights and your promotion bonus is 3,000 points. Spend $1,500 on 10 nights and your promotion bonus is 6,000 points.

Neither the SPG or HHonors offers draw me in.

HHonors Diamond Members Free Night Offer

Interestingly from the HHonors perspective is TMTravelworld reporting yesterday HHonors Diamond members have a targeted offer for a free night after ten paid nights by December 31. No doubt that offer trumps this SPG offer.

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus is offering up to 2 free nights after four paid stays using Visa between Sep 15, 2010 and January 15, 2011.

Hyatt Gold Passport has not yet come up with a follow-up to the great spring/summer free nights promotion.

The hotel chains appear to be cutting back on promotion incentives since room occupancy is going up. But room rates are still flat in most places across the U.S. I’ll be interested to see the impact of weak promotions during the same time period an attempt is made to raise room rates across the hotel market segments.

Business travel is up and predicted to increase in fall 2010, but leisure travel is the unknown factor and I think growth is likely to remain flat as we move along in a stagnant economy for most working people.

SPG’s fall promotion for double/triple points has not been officially released yet. I hope they tweak the details to be a more lucrative offer before the rumored September 8 promotion roll-out.

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Non-Participating Hotels for SPG Double/Triple Points promotion

  • Sheraton Nicolaus Hotel & Conference Center
    The St. Regis New York
    Hotel Pulitzer, Amsterdam
    Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf Hotel
    Four Points By Sheraton Brauneck
    Sheraton Zurich Neues Schloss Hotel
    Sheraton Paris Airport Hotel & Conference Centre
    Sheraton On The Park
    The Westin Grand Frankfurt
    Sheraton Frankfurt Congress Hotel
    Sheraton Offenbach Hotel
    Sheraton Dusseldorf Airport Hotel
    Sheraton Munich Westpark Hotel
    Arabellasheraton Alpenhotel
    Sheraton Oman Hotel
    Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers
    Dhaka Sheraton Hotel
    Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel
    Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel
    Sheraton Jeddah Hotel
    Sheraton Riyadh Hotel & Towers
    Sheraton Perth Hotel
    The St. Regis Aspen Resort
    The Westin Grand Munich
    Sheraton Lima Hotel & Convention Center
    Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel And Conference Center
    Sheraton Tel Aviv Hotel And Towers
    Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel & Towers, Conference Center
    Sheraton Mirage Resort And Spa Gold Coast
    Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers, Chennai
    Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers
    Itc Mughal, Agra
    Sheraton Chola Hotel, Chennai
    Itc Windsor, Bengaluru
    Sheraton Lagos Hotel
    Sheraton Seattle Hotel
    Walt Disney World Dolphin
    Sheraton Towers Singapore
    Sheraton Xian Hotel
    Sheraton Essen Hotel
    Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers
    Sheraton Rajputana Palace Hotel, Jaipur
    Sheraton Fallsview Hotel & Conference Center
    Sheraton Reston Hotel
    Sheraton San Jose Hotel
    Four Points By Sheraton Medellin
    Four Points By Sheraton Ventura Harbor
    Sheraton Sunnyvale Hotel
    Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center
    Four Points By Sheraton Destin-Fort Walton Beach
    Sheraton Buganvilias Resort And Convention Center
    Four Points By Sheraton Bwi Airport
    Sheraton Great Valley Hotel
    Sheraton Mahwah Hotel
    Sheraton Dover Hotel
    Four Points By Sheraton San Francisco Bay Bridge
    Sheraton Taipei Hotel
    Sheraton Laguardia East Hotel
    Sheraton Anaheim Hotel
    The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles
    Walt Disney World Swan
    The Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago
    The Westin Chicago River North
    The Westin Copley Place, Boston
    The Westin Cincinnati
    The Westin Galleria Dallas
    The Westin Seattle
    The Westin Nagoya Castle
    The Westin Chosun, Seoul
    The Westin Prince, Toronto
    The Westin Grand, Berlin
    The Westin Bellevue, Dresden
    Sheraton Hanover Pelikan Hotel
    Itc Kakatiya, Hyderabad
    Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers
    Sheraton Pretoria Hotel
    Four Points By Sheraton York
    W Seattle
    Sheraton Club Des Pins Resort And Towers
    Sheraton Safari Hotel & Suites Lake Buena Vista
    Four Points By Sheraton Winnipeg International Airport
    The Westin Sydney
    The Westin Taipei
    The Westin Palo Alto
    W New York – Times Square
    Sheraton Pilar Hotel & Convention Center
    W New York – Union Square
    Four Points By Sheraton Geelong
    Four Points By Sheraton Sydney, Darling Harbour
    Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel
    Sheraton On The Falls Hotel
    Itc Maratha, Mumbai
    Sheraton Cesme Hotel, Resort And Spa
    The St. Regis Shanghai
    The Westin New York At Times Square
    The Westin Charlotte
    The Westin Dhaka
    Sheraton Carlton Hotel Nuernberg
    Four Points By Sheraton Central Köln
    Sheraton Tarrytown Hotel
    Four Points By Sheraton Galerias Monterrey
    The Westin Kuala Lumpur
    Sheraton Sanya Resort
    Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers
    The Westin Leipzig
    Itc Sonar, Kolkata
    The Sheraton Read House Hotel Chattanooga
    Sheraton Tunis Hotel & Towers
    The Westin Tampa Bay
    Itc Grand Central, Mumbai
    Four Points By Sheraton Edmonton South
    Four Points By Sheraton Cali
    The Westin Bellevue
    The Westin Huntsville
    Sheraton Oran Hotel & Towers
    Four Points By Sheraton Panoramahaus Dornbirn
    The St. Regis Deer Crest Resort
    Sheraton Presidente San Salvador Hotel
    The Westin Guangzhou
    Four Points By Sheraton Shanghai, Pudong
    The Westin Reston Heights
    Four Points By Sheraton Sihlcity – Zurich
    Sheraton Metairie – New Orleans Hotel
    The Westin Edina Galleria
    Le Méridien Douala
    Le Méridien Mandji
    Le Méridien Cyberport
    Le Méridien New Delhi
    Le Méridien Pune
    Le Méridien Bangalore
    Le Méridien Jakarta
    Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur
    Le Méridien Vienna
    Dom Hotel
    Le Méridien Parkhotel Frankfurt
    Le Méridien Munich
    Le Méridien Stuttgart
    Le Méridien Al Khobar
    Le Méridien Jeddah
    Le Méridien Makkah
    Grosvenor House, Dubai
    Le Méridien Bora Bora
    Le Parker Méridien New York
    Le Parker Méridien Palm Springs
    Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences, Pudong
    W Hong Kong
    Four Points By Sheraton Philadelphia City Center
    Four Points By Sheraton Shanghai, Daning
    The Westin Richmond
    Sheraton New Delhi Hotel
    Sheraton Huizhou Beach Resort
    Aloft Rogers-Bentonville
    Sheraton Miyako Hotel, Tokyo
    Four Points By Sheraton Guangzhou, Dongpu
    Aloft Dallas Downtown
    W New York Downtown
    Aloft Plano
    Sheraton Zhoushan Hotel
    Four Points By Sheraton Monterrey Linda Vista
    Le Méridien Xiamen
    Four Points By Sheraton Taicang
    Sheraton Sao Paulo Wtc Hotel
    W London – Leicester Square – Opening Autumn, 2010
    ITC Royal Gardenia, Bengaluru
    The Andaman, Langkawi
    Lakeside Terrace Villas, Avon / Vail Valley
    W New York

5 Comments

  • Erndog August 19, 2010

    Seems the Marriott promotion you speak of varies by member – I am being offered 35k points after 15 nights; additional 15k points after 20 nights, all using a Visa card

  • Ric Garrido August 20, 2010

    Marriott megaBonus always has several variations. I stay infrequently at Marriott’s and I usually get a free night offer.

    Marriott Rewards members with regular activity usually get points based offers with a much higher threshold of nights to qualify.

  • Ken August 20, 2010

    Any guesses as to when Hyatt will release their promotion? starting to book nights from Sept 3-onwards for a MR, do you think we’ll have word by then whether there will be a FFN?

  • Ric Garrido August 20, 2010

    No insider info here as to Hyatt promotion rollout.

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