Starwood Preferred Guest - How is your requalification after 1st quarter 2004?

1st quarter is over.
How was your travelling in 1st quarter and what about your requalifying progress 4 SPG Gold/Platinum? Did U travel more in the 1st quarter 2004 compared 2 last year? Any influences of the SPG changes on January, 1st 2004 (Priceline/3rd party sites -> no SPG recognition)?


Starwood nights in 2004:
19 (last year: 12 nights after 1st quarter)
Highlights: 1.) Grande Sukhumvit Bangkok 2.) Swan, Orlando 3.) Westin Diplomat


I will requalify for SPG Platinum in the 2nd half of the year. Travelling increased if compared 2 last year. I also scored 7 Hyatt nights and 2 Hilton nights.

I had been humping along pretty good and have something like 12 stays. I backed it off a bit when I started seeing to many complaints about Plat problems and moved my last 15 nights to Marriott. I'll hit Plat, but not until after I hit Marr Gold now which is a change of plans for me.

I asked Starwood to cut me some slack in 2004 and extend my Platinum status...due to cancellation of asian business travel and unemployment for 4 months, I ended up with 21 or 22 stays. (Some of you will say -- why didn't you just log a few more nights? Trust me, the 21 stays were already a push...)

Starwood said, "we'll see what you book in 2004 and consider re-upping your status after Q1."

I was disappointed that they wouldn't extend me (or even offer something like "provisional platinum"), and very sadly decided to take my business elsewhere.

So, for this year, I'm at 1 stay, 1 night. I'm planning to maintain gold, but that's it.

Should hit the 25 stay requirement by the end of May or so... Last year I did 80 nights/40 stays at *wood. No complaints here.

If we were counting award nights this year i'd be at 40 so far this year at *wood properties (twenty of those were during the first three weeks of Jan) fortunately most were on a beach in Thailand :D

Have slacked off. May well still requalify before year's end, but my trial membership as Hilton Diamond, and lack of being targeted for any SPG promotions in the last 7 or 8 months has changed my priorities. Will first make a point of qualifying as Hilton Diamond, then look again at SPG.

Have slacked off. May well still requalify before year's end, but my trial membership as Hilton Diamond, and lack of being targeted for any SPG promotions in the last 7 or 8 months has changed my priorities. Will first make a point of qualifying as Hilton Diamond, then look again at SPG.

7 stays for 26 nights through 3/31. I really need to spend more time at home.

Mike

14 nights, with 7 more coming up before the end of April. Maybe I'll qualify for plat, maybe I won't. I'll give it a shot though. I'd really like to see if it'll make a difference next year...

9 stays year-to-date
21 nights year-to-date

Have 3 stays and 3 more nights coming up this week. Doing pretty well considering I have 13 stays for 19 nights at Hilton as well this year. Wish *wood had a lower-market brand as proliferant as Hilton does with Hampton - I could give up Hilton altogether if there was a *wood in every town I visited. :(

YTD stays - 0
YTD nights - 0
(have been SPG Plat since day 1 of the program, and Westin Gold for a long while before that)

Unfortunately I have 54 nites on 3/31. 64 after 4/13.

wayne

7 stays as of March 31st. I should reach Plat by October. I have been concentrating on IC Royal Ambassador for the last few months... HH Diamond requalification will come last, sometime in December.

Current stays this year in alphabetical order:
15 Hilton
05 Hyatt
34 Marriott (= nights)
01 nh Hotels [forced layover paid by KLM due to bad weather/late arrival/missed connection]
02 Priority Club
06 Starwood
--
63 Total

I had hoped to decrease travelling/hotel stays in 2004 in order to be more at home. But it went into the other direction. I expect to requalify for SPG Platinum (+ HHonors Diamond / Hyatt Diamond / Marriott Platinum).

Top 3 hotel stays this year:
1.) Hotel Schloss Fuschl, Fuschlsee/Salzburg
2.) Marriott County Hall, London
3.) ArabellaSheraton Jagdhof, Fuschlsee/Salzburg

12 stays down and another 3 to go before the end of the month. Should have no trouble making it again this year....

As I mentioned in another thread, I was targeted for the double-double promo. My Gold status expired end of February, but I reinstated it with just five inexpensive weekend stays thanks to double-double.

Now I'm working on Plat. Eight stays completed this year, just five left to go by the end of April. :)

8 stays / 23 nights so far. 12 stays / 37 nights by mid may. Would have been nice to get the doubledouble . . .

SPG:
2 stays / 2 nights

but some more coming soon; it should be possible to requalify Gold status, but form today, Platinum is out of reach (but you never know)

Now I'm working on Plat. Eight stays completed this year, just five left to go by the end of April. :)

How does this work?

Started out the year strong with 8 nights and 2 stays in the first 2 weeks of the year. Then, I was moved to another location and the nearest SPG hotel is 18 miles away, while there is a Marriott 1/2 mile away. So, now through 04/07/04, I have:

Hilton - 4 nights
SPG - 8 nights
Marriott - 67 nights

Hope to be in another city with a SPG nearby.

I'll have 13 stays, 41 nights when I check out tomorrow. Travelling the same as last year.

2 stays, 2 nights this year. I'n not even trying to requalify for Platinum, because I'm tired of fighting Starwood. I'm tired of calling them to have my amenity bonus points posted on nearly every stay, I'm tired of not getting upgrades (the only one I've gotten in the last 8 or 10 stays was on an award stay) even in empty hotels, and I'm tired of paying outrageous prices for lousy rooms in indifferent hotels.

When Starwood's good, it's very good indeed, but when it's bad, it's just awful.

And two of these were the first week of January. Once the promos started coming out at the other chains

Hyatt - Stay 5 times get 15K bonus points (plus the additional GP bonuses)
Marriott - Stay 15 times get 25K bonus points
Hilton - Stay 8 times get 8K bonus points

and SPG excluded me from their promos, specifically the double double, I have made it a point to exclude paid SPG from my stays through May 15th which is the end of the last promo (marriott) for me.

I'll still get my plat requalified, it will just be later in the year.. UNLESS.. the same sequence of promotional events happens again then.. who knows

3 stays and 9 nights. My travel is always a bit slow at the start of the year and this year is no different. I should requalify by the end of the 3rd qtr. :D

Starwood: 18 stays and 9 nights (double-double promo)
Hyatt: 12 stays and 16 nights.

Starwood comp'd me to PLT and Hyatt to Diamond based upon Hilton Gold status and stays at Hyatt for the FFN promo. I should requal for PLT by the end of the double double and 4Pts promos. Hyatt will take a little longer though finishing up the 5 stays for 15,000 points at the GHHK the end of this month.

13 Starwood
12 Hyatt
3 Peabody

Is the Doubledouble promotion only good for status through the end of 2004? Or does it carryforward to 2005 as well?

I have had

10 Stays
15 Nights

I haven't been staying that much at SPG due to the fact that I am trying to requalify early for Hilton Diamond. I took a leave of absence from work the first 3 months of last year so I wasn't able to keep both HH and SPG. I will make them both again this year but since I have till the end of April to requal for HH made them my hotel of choice for the first quarter. Also the cr*ppy $4500 promo made SPG low on my priority.

Was not targetted with any offer so far this year. After 2 years at 150 nights each this year I have 1 stay and 1 night...
Make me want to stay with you Starwood.

Was not targetted with any offer so far this year. After 2 years at 150 nights each this year I have 1 stay and 1 night...
Make me want to stay with you Starwood.

Let me guess if it wasn't for 2004 being a leap year you'd be at zero nights zero stays :D

How does this work?
Because I was targeted and registered for the double-double promo, I get double credit for my stays. Hence, to get credit for 25 stays, I just need 13 stays during the promo period.

P.S.: Is it really worth getting sick to your stomach over this?

Is the Doubledouble promotion only good for status through the end of 2004? Or does it carryforward to 2005 as well?
According to the T&C's of the promos (codes 116 and 117), "elite status will be valid through February 2006."

15 stays with HHonors
2 with Spg

I did not requalify for Diamond last year with Hhonors so this year that was my first priority. Now if I would have been targetted with the Double promotion I would have spent most of my nights with SPG.

According to the T&C's of the promos (codes 116 and 117), "elite status will be valid through February 2006."

That's what I would have guessed. I'm happy for you that you're getting the status without the stays.

Because I was targeted and registered for the double-double promo, I get double credit for my stays. Hence, to get credit for 25 stays, I just need 13 stays during the promo period.

P.S.: Is it really worth getting sick to your stomach over this?

No, absolutely not - I'd take advantage if it was offered to me as well. My "edit" comment was strictly meant euphemistically.

9 stays, 14 nights

I guess I'm going to lose my PLT next year. :(

I've been in cities (London, Paris) where Starwood is a little too dear for my corporate travel folks or cities (Brussels, Vegas) where Starwood does not have decent hotels, locations. Since I've always been PLT, I'm going to have to learn what it's like to be Gold. I might have a chance to make it under the old 40 night threshold, but will never make 50. Oh well, I guess I'll just stay at the Fairmont and enjoy a little luxury because I no longer need the nights at the Santa Clara Westin.

I love SPG and think that points are most valuable, but having no chance of PLT is giving me the freedom to stay where I want to all the time now.

5 stays and 8 nights. I have approximately 13 more stays booked, but have not yet decided whether to make the push to hit 25. If I do, I'll be a frequent visitor to the Four Points in Norwalk, CT.

I am actually trying some thing new, mainly staying at the Storwood property in a city for most of the stay, but switching to a local hotel for one night. I am doin this in cities like Rio and Singapore, which have local hotels of excellent reputation (Copacabana in Rio; Raffles in Singapore) that I think will enhance my overall travel experience.

My upgrade experience has not been stellar, so the biggest benefit of my Platinum status is the 500 point amenity. Not sure if it is worth it.

I'm travelling more this year compared to last. 8 stays with 34 nights so far...unfortunately no exotic locales like some of the previous posts. Most of the stays in ATL. Should make Plat pretty easily.

SPG - 29
Hilton - 21

I'm down this first quarter because I have been focusing on Hilton stays since I lost Diamond last year. The $4000 promo also turned be away a little more than I (or SPG) probably anticipated.

I did however burn three free weekend nights and still have two more to go. I hope I can squeeze them in before the end of the month. I'd hate for them to go to waste.

Let me guess if it wasn't for 2004 being a leap year you'd be at zero nights zero stays :D

And you would be very correct my friend !! :)

By May I will have re-qualified as *wood Gold (as well as Marriott Silver & Hilton Silver)...will have no problem qualifying for *wood Plat. Business travel is going to be cut by 2/3 for a few months, then a new assignment (don't know where yet) so we'll see how it progresses beyond that.

15 stays / 17 nights
should reach Plat2005 by June

8/8 no double/double.

-David (master of the 1 night stay)

2 stays and 3 nights so far :(

Have trips to Bangkok and Bali confirmed for May.

Work just told me today to head to Toronto, NYC, London and Seattle in June for meetings and seminars. I am going to try and drag it out to a two week trip.

I think I will be able to requalify this year - it was looking dodgy until I got the orders today! :p

Starwood (comped Platinum in January): 4 stays, 6 nights
Hilton (Diamond in 2002-2003): 8 stays, 15 nights

It's going to be really tough to requalify for both programs (53 stays/110 nights) this year, but I knew that going in. I can make AA Platinum in my sleep this year without any mileage runs, so I don't have the sleeping runs to go with it.

Am on track toward Plat. requal, but the 10K point bonus for a few nights/stays offered by two competing hotel groups may cause a temporary detour in my SPG requal. plans, together with a less-than-stellar upgrade experience this CY at SPG, particularly with the Westin brand :(

6 stays, 7 nights thus far. 2nd quarter will be slow, so Platinum may be out of reach this year, although then, maybe I'd get a promo to qualify faster the following year.

I have ground to a halt. HAven't even seen the inside of a hotel or plane since 19 January :rolleyes: . I'm have shocking withdrawal symptoms :eek: - I'm 1 stay for 1 night on Sheraton YTD and 0 for 0 with Hilton.

Finally, Easter will help me as we are spending time watching a Ballroom Dancing competition on the Gold Coast - using my V03CAT to take Mrs QF WP for a night away (alas, no stay credit, is there?), stretched it to another night at a nearby Conrad.

After this weekend:

17 Stays
42 Nights/8 more for Platinum... ;)

1 or 2 Hilton

8 stays, 19 nights thus far. Shouldn't have much of a problem requal for Platinum this year. Also had 3 nights at Westin Diplomat from the Stay 6, get 1 free promo.

End of March: 11 stays, 12 nights
End of April: 17 stays, 24 nights
End of May: 22 stays, 30 nights

I just requalified this week. Checked out this morning @ 46 nights for the year.

Starwood by April 30th

17 stays
18 nights

Hilton by April 30th

7 stays
7 nights

anyone notice a trend on stays vs nights ;)

Will make Plat no problem and likly even Diamond this year after no status with them ever but a Gold comp last year from AC after 4 stays.

I'm going to be draining my SPG account to almost zero after taking my wife to Italy this summer and I have built up some Hilton points so it might make sense to hit Diamond so I can use those points as well. I know, they aren't a good as SPG points but if I have a balance with Hilton and virtually none with SPG, I might as well be able to use it ;)

8 stays, 15 nights so far. Not that I have to worry about such things...;)

1 stay = 4 nights

Having better luck with suite upgrades at the Residence Inn ^

9 stays
40 nights

Would have made the 50 nights already but for a sold out hotel status in the Bangalore Sheraton for over four weeks that I spent there....

Well on the way for over 100 nights - love the points and the 5 night/5,000 pts promo definitely gelled well with travel plans. ^

because of the lack of promotions at SPG.....

2 nights so far
11 at Hilton
92 at Marriott thanks to their promotions, including Bonus Bucks Promo...

one of these days, I might actually get a targeted promotion from SPG... :confused:

110 Nights so far. . *wood and heck - not even a thank you note from Barry yet :D

10 stays, 25 nights

just finished a project though so will be holding here for at least a month

I'm comped to Platinum, but I'll probably have 50 nights by the end of the year anyway. So far I have over 20 with SPG, and 20 with PC and about 6 with Hyatt. Also a dozen or so with non-chain hotels. That's the benefit of comped status for me. Since I don't have to worry about requaling, I'm happy to spend a night here and there at some very nice non-chain boutique hotels.

13 stays, 40 nights. 12 Marriott, 4 hilton and a couple of Ritz would have made it to Starwood as well if a targeted offer made its way to my mailbox once in a while . .

I'm comped to Platinum, but I'll probably have 50 nights by the end of the year anyway. So far I have over 20 with SPG, and 20 with PC and about 6 with Hyatt. Also a dozen or so with non-chain hotels. That's the benefit of comped status for me. Since I don't have to worry about requaling, I'm happy to spend a night here and there at some very nice non-chain boutique hotels.

I was unaware the Starwood comped to Platinum status. What was in your profile that prompted this? I 'm just curious. Hope that your enjoy the program! Sounds like you already are!

After 150 nights in 2002 and 100 nights in 2003, I only have 2 nights and 1 stay this year. Unfortunately, my project location forced me to stay in Marriotts and now I have a new job where I won't be traveling as much.

The disappointing thing is that when I begin to use my 130,000 points next year, I will only be gold and then nothing and my wife will be disappointed in my lack of upgrades on our future vacations.

10 stays Starwood
17 stays Marriott
Just cxl 30 day stay at NYC Westin Time Square for RNC due to rude sales Department there, Will be at the Marriott

Started out the year strong with 8 nights and 2 stays in the first 2 weeks of the year. Then, I was moved to another location and the nearest SPG hotel is 18 miles away, while there is a Marriott 1/2 mile away. So, now through 04/07/04, I have:

Hilton - 4 nights
SPG - 8 nights
Marriott - 67 nights

Hope to be in another city with a SPG nearby.

Having made MR Plt for the year, I wanted to give Hilton Diamond a try. SPG still does not have any nearby properties in the cities I am working.
Through May 30th, I now have:

Hilton - 29 nights (3 stays)
SPG - 8 nights (2 stays)
Marriott - 75 nights (10 stays)

Zero stays, zero nights, and more money in my pocket. Going beautifully. :)

Just a quick update. Double-double is over and the score is:

Starwood 27 stays (14 actual) and 14 nights
Hyatt 14 stays and 20 nights (with 12 stays reserved for 6/1 to 7/5 for FFN.)

Was PLT in 2003, fell to Gold in 2/04 (15 stays, 33 nights in 2003)

Targeted for double-double, reached 25 stays (13 actual), 32 nights (17 actual) by the end of the promo. Required some hotel-hopping on two trips :D , but got Platinum through 2/06 out of it.

Marriott was 77 nights in 2003, 3 so far in 2004 as I've shifted to Starwood for the double-double, and I haven't gone to London since January where I tend to prefer Marriotts. I'm probably a good example of why this promo "works" for Starwood.

The dilemma is: concentrate on Marriott for 2004 to get status there, or keep using Starwood to reap the benefits of Platinum here? Probably depends on promos etc. An example of why this promo wasn't necessarily of long term benefit to Starwood ...