Starwood Preferred Guest - See America Rate?

I booked a promotional rate for the TPA Sheraton Suites this weekend under a rate called "See America." Like most promo rates, it states, "ID required." Is anyone aware of any restrictions on this rate as there are none published in the fare rules and I would rather not trust the Dublin call center at this hour.

no restrictions on that rate-- that's Starwood's current sale promotion.

Good question. I just got my rate at the
Sheraton Russell down from $275 w/ UA cert
to $159 w/o any cert.. See American- GOOD
DEAL!

I just found an interesting discrepancy while searching for rooms at the W Union Square with the new See America promo.

I realize that this is normally a busy season for NY, and that some hotels might be doing good business despite recent events. That seems to be the case with St. Regis and W in NYC. I didn't really expect that these hotels would be participating in the promo as long as business was good (I did note the T&C stipulations). And I don't mind paying high rates, especially when Starwood hotels are going out of their way to help increase travel with these great rates.

What does disturb me is this: When I did a normal search for promotional rates, the rates start at $399 at the W Union Square...this is labelled as "Best Available Rate" (No See America rates are available, evidently). I thought it was pretty nice that the BAR came up since no GOUSAWEB rates were available. However, when I checked using only the "Promotional Rates" choice in the pull-down menu, the Best Available Rate turns out to be $319/night! If Starwood is giving all this hype to the promotion, shouldn't they also try to give the best rate for every search? I can imagine that some people have tried to book the $399 rate, thinking it was the best available without realizing that they are actually spending more money by checking for the "GOUSAWEB" promotion!

[edited for grammar]

[This message has been edited by jja34-1 (edited 10-10-2001).]

jja34-1, it always helps us to have the dates you were checking. This way we can check if there is actually a problem or just a difference in room types.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Sorry, I knew I should have included it...Oct. 20 for one night. It is showing the rate discrepancy for spectacular rooms, among others.

jja34-1, I've checked online and by using the central reservations system and the See America rate for the W Union Square is just sold out. As far as I know every hotel is participating in this promotional rate, but there are a limited number of rooms available at this price.

What happens when you are checking for the See America rate and it is sold out is that the system defaults to the next best available rate since the hotel is not sold out, but the rate plan is. It does this by bringing you back to the Find Rooms & Rates: Enter Your Preferences page. By clicking on Check Availability, the Weekend and BAR rates are displayed.

My best guess at explaining the difference between $399 and $319, as far as the difference in BAR rates are concerned, is still the room type difference scenario. The Best Available Rate (BAR) shows rates from $289 for an accessible Wonderful King to $399 for a Spectacular King. The web site lists the same range.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 10-11-2001).]

I just booked a room at a great "See America" rate and also wondered about the ID issue. But of more concern is a little item in the confirmation e-mail I received which says,
"Tax and other information: 9.50 Percent per room per night NOT in the rate, 1.00 USD Per room per night NOT in the rate, 50.00 USD Per room per stay NOT in the
rate."
Does that really say 50.00 USD Per room per stay? As in $50 more added to the one-night rate I booked? Is that a typo or what? Am I misreading it? Anybody else seen this?
I went back and checked and every rate I looked at had this same statement in it--Best Available, Weekend, etc. Is this really possible?

[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 10-13-2001).]

I just came back from the "See America" stay at the very nice Sheraton Suites Tampa. There was no added $50.00 rate but they had no clue about ANY Platinum amenity, much less a choice, so perhaps it will take some time to get into the system.

TravelWeary, send me the details of your reservation in an email and I'll try to decypher the $50 additional charge.

FoothillFlyer, if you would do the same, I'll ask the hotel coordinators to remind the hotel about the new Platinum amenity choice program.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thanks to William, I found out that the $50 charge refers to an early-departure fee, so this $69 is a GREAT rate for a suite and buffet breakfast.