Starwood Preferred Guest - Missing Points for Conference Stay

My husband and I stayed at a *wood property in the Phoenix area a few weekends ago at a retreat for his business. When I checked his SPG account we only had 56 points! (It was a pricey place.) I was told that the hotel had negotiated a rate with the business that did not include points (?). When I pressed her about how much the rooms actually had cost, the CSR (who was very nice) came back on the line and said she had credited us the 700+ points for the stay. Good lesson for checking the balances and making a small fuss if something like this happen. :)

My husband and I stayed at a *wood property in the Phoenix area a few weekends ago at a retreat for his business. When I checked his SPG account we only had 56 points! (It was a pricey place.) I was told that the hotel had negotiated a rate with the business that did not include points (?). When I pressed her about how much the rooms actually had cost, the CSR (who was very nice) came back on the line and said she had credited us the 700+ points for the stay. Good lesson for checking the balances and making a small fuss if something like this happen. :)

I just experienced the same thing for a Conference at Westin Kierland. I got points for a mini-bar purchase, but nothing else! My receipt states I will receive at least 1,945 pts for my stay....but I got nothing.

I emailed and complained, and they gave me the same line about it was a negotiated business rate (for our conference). I've been at many a conference at a *wood, and never had this happen before.

I'm going to send in a formal complaint letter.....I doubt they want to tick off someone who stays at their hotels as frequently as I.......we'll see!!!

Just a note here: the Starpoints earned thing at the bottom of your hotel bill is notoriously wrong a lot of the times. It has to do with the hotel's in-house database and its inherent inability to recognize eligible vs. eligible charges.

Whether or not a group stay qualifies depends on who it is you pay. Did you pay the conference or group contact in advance or did you pay the hotel at check-out? If you paid anyone but the hotel at check-out, it isn't eligible.

If you did pay them at check-out, you can fax a copy of the hotel bill to Program Services at 512-836-4002 and they will be glad to research the issue for you further.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Just a note here: the Starpoints earned thing at the bottom of your hotel bill is notoriously wrong a lot of the times. It has to do with the hotel's in-house database and its inherent inability to recognize eligible vs. eligible charges.

Whether or not a group stay qualifies depends on who it is you pay. Did you pay the conference or group contact in advance or did you pay the hotel at check-out? If you paid anyone but the hotel at check-out, it isn't eligible.

If you did pay them at check-out, you can fax a copy of the hotel bill to Program Services at 512-836-4002 and they will be glad to research the issue for you further.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com


Can I ask about the rationale for this? Clearly this is not like the airlines, where no matter who pays for the ticket the person doing the flying gets the points. Do businesses save up points to use?

Just speculating here, but:
* If you're not the one paying the bill, you're likely not the one choosing to spend the money with Starwood -- so the points may be an unnecessary expense to them since they aren't rewarding loyalty or generating incremental revenue.
* The master bill may be eligible for Starwood Preferred Planner points (1 point per 3 $ spent), so in fact points may well be getting earned for your stay... just not by you and instead by the person driving the revenue to the property.

Can I ask about the rationale for this? Clearly this is not like the airlines, where no matter who pays for the ticket the person doing the flying gets the points. Do businesses save up points to use?

The rationale is that you did not make the choice in hotels. Someone else did and probably got the meeting points for it. Business can try to sign up under the Starwood Preferred Business program and if they qualify, they can earn Starpoints as well as the people actually staying.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Whether or not a group stay qualifies depends on who it is you pay. Did you pay the conference or group contact in advance or did you pay the hotel at check-out? If you paid anyone but the hotel at check-out, it isn't eligible.


and

The rationale is that you did not make the choice in hotels.

Here's a situation: I'm attending XYZ conference, and the conference organizers have negotiated rates for a choice of hotels (such as a Sheraton, a Hyatt, and a Hilton). However, to enjoy that rate, I must book the room through the conference organizers and pay a one-night deposit. (The conference lasts longer than a one-night stay, however).

I choose to stay at the Sheraton, pay one night's deposit, stay (say four nights), and pay for the stay at checkout with my own credit card, will I

Receive my Gold (or Platinum or Preferred Plus) benefits, and
Earn the appropriate number of Starpoints, stay credit, and night credit for all of the nights, or just the remaining three nights?


I made the choice in hotels (sorta) and did pay for three nights at checkout.

Ever since Starwood changed the rules at the beginning of the year, I've hesitated to ever use conference rates for a stay -- or at least consider making the first night of a stay a regular Starwood rate and the remaining nights the conference rate (to get Gold benefits and at least a stay credit).

The rationale is that you did not make the choice in hotels. Someone else did ...

This is probably worth hotels thinking about. Although I may not make the hotel choice, I DO actually turn down invitations to some meetings because I'm not all that keen on the hotel, don't have a relationship with them etc. If it is hotel group I like (like SPG) and I will get credit for staying there I am more likely to go.

Bump. Hi, Lurker -- any thoughts about the hypothetical situation I posted?

Bump. Hi, Lurker -- any thoughts about the hypothetical situation I posted?

If you pay the hotel at check-out and stay in the hotel, why wouldn't it count as a stay? If the hotel was confused and it didn't, couldn't you fax a hotel bill to Program Services afterward showing that you had done so?

The question about SPG elite benefits is harder. Presuming that there was no place to note your SPG number on the reservation, the hotel is not going to know you are an elite member until you check-in and show them your membership card, so I am thinking "no" on this part, but YMMV.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

If you pay the hotel at check-out and stay in the hotel, why wouldn't it count as a stay? If the hotel was confused and it didn't, couldn't you fax a hotel bill to Program Services afterward showing that you had done so?


Fair enough. I suppose I hadn't been able to get a clear answer from the hotels involved or from Starwood on whether or not I would earn Starpoints, stay credit, night credit when I was considering attending the conference. I guess from your answer (and that it is Starwood's position) that even if I attend a conference and pay the conference rate, as long as I pay at checkout I will get all three -- including all four nights' credit (which is the answer I wanted to hear :) ). If my understanding is incorrect, please let me know!

Fair enough. I suppose I hadn't been able to get a clear answer from the hotels involved or from Starwood on whether or not I would earn Starpoints, stay credit, night credit when I was considering attending the conference. I guess from your answer (and that it is Starwood's position) that even if I attend a conference and pay the conference rate, as long as I pay at checkout I will get all three -- including all four nights' credit (which is the answer I wanted to hear :) ). If my understanding is incorrect, please let me know!

The only thing I am 100% sure of is this: if you pay at check out and you stay in the room, you should be credited for the stay. I'm fairly certain that if you pre-paid a deposit to the conference representative, it will be reflected this way on your final bill.

The elite member benefits are pretty much still up in the air on this one, but it never hurts to ask at check-in.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

The only thing I am 100% sure of is this: if you pay at check out and you stay in the room, you should be credited for the stay. I'm fairly certain that if you pre-paid a deposit to the conference representative, it will be reflected this way on your final bill.

The elite member benefits are pretty much still up in the air on this one, but it never hurts to ask at check-in.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com


Okay -- thanks for the assistance! ^

I just experienced the same thing for a Conference at Westin Kierland. I got points for a mini-bar purchase, but nothing else! My receipt states I will receive at least 1,945 pts for my stay....but I got nothing.

I emailed and complained, and they gave me the same line about it was a negotiated business rate (for our conference). I've been at many a conference at a *wood, and never had this happen before.

I'm going to send in a formal complaint letter.....I doubt they want to tick off someone who stays at their hotels as frequently as I.......we'll see!!!

Did you get a result from your complaint?

Currently going through the whole process of trying to get points for recent conference stay.

Did pay for stay myself at check out, and just faxed copy of receipt to *wood. Don't understand why customer services can't just contact the hotel direct and get the details, they asked the hotel to send me a copy from the US to the UK and then for me to fax it back to customer services! Luckily I found a copy to send to them.

We paid a conference rate recently for 3 nights and then paid ourselves for an additional two nights. Shouldnt we get benefits and points at least for the nights we paid ourselves?

The question about SPG elite benefits is harder. Presuming that there was no place to note your SPG number on the reservation, the hotel is not going to know you are an elite member until you check-in and show them your membership card, so I am thinking "no" on this part, but YMMV.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Once I know I have a hotel room booked, I either email the hotel or ask the Plat. Concierge to make a note on my reservations long before I arrive. This usually ensures I get my benefits on arrival at the hotel ( Le Meridien Montparnase was an exceptionalthough they had emailed me that I would get my benefits--but that's another story)