Starwood Preferred Guest - Beware WHO pays!!!

I recently staye dat the Sheraton Libertador in Buenos Aires since it was available and I wanted the SPG points and nights. I booked rooms for my Brasillian GM and myself via my agent in BA.

Arrived at the Hotel, no belllman to carry bags, crossed the lobby, to the Check in counter. I presented my Platinum card at check in and as the Clerk was assigning rooms I aksed for Upgrades as he was offering none. He siad "sorry Sir we dont upgrade at this hotel, you've reserved the Exec room at 155USD and thats the room we will give you, BUT I will apply 500 SPG bonus points to you account" I didnt push as it was only a three night stay.
On check out My Brasillian GM paid the Bill with a company Visa from Brasil as we where their on behalf of that entity.
To keep the story brief, No points were issued avter two weeks, I sent a request for reveiw, SPG Ciustomer service responded nicely that they would inquire at the hotel.
The Hotel CSR responded to me only that they were issuing a 500 point credit to my account (like this would placate me) I responded to her that I felt a three night stay with dollars spent PLus the 500 was in order. I am not looking for EXTRA anything, just what I believe the program promises.
She responded that since my partner paid both Bills I would should get nothing Nothing. But she would give me another 500 points.
Hmmmm. Lemme see. We Stayed at this Hotel at MY request, my GM is NOT an SPG enrolly, We would have stayed at the Hilton as it was our Reps suggestion. I made the Reservation and he paid with a Company issued Credit card from a company I am part owner of.... I do this often with other programs (Priority club, Marriott, Radisson) and it has not been an issue. We stayed at the Quito Four Points the next week and payed the same way. Points credited to my account in three days no problem..
So a Call to SPG customer Service, the CSR claimed its at the Hotels option to issue points or not depending on the method of Payment.... so be forewarned...

Stay cool! As you can see by using the SEARCH function in this forum, a lot has been written on this topic in the past.

The rule is that the room has to be registered in your name and you have to personally pay at check-out.

If these two conditions are not fulfilled, it is up to the hotel to decide whether it will give you the points or not and it is in its full right to deny you the points according to the SPG program rules.

Sorry, but that's just how it is. My suggestion: Read FT frequently, and you will save yourself a lot of trouble in the future.

I would suggest you drop the attitude.

To the OP - I think he answered your question but while the search feature is nice.....MOST of us here on FT don't mind answering questions which may have been covered sometime in 2002. Welcome aboard.

I also feel that this is a rediculous T and C and the reason that I no longer stay at Starwoods.
I was a plat member for many years.
I now stay at Hiltons mostly as I really have never had a problem there when staying with friends and business partners.
so to the OP I suggest you should have stayed at the lovely BA hilton.
cheaper and free upgrade to EC for Diamonds which I am sure your would become on a comp status request :D

Thanks all for your input, I started this thread to alert those that would NOT be aware of this rule, (as I was not). I find it somewhat uncool that these programs are designed for Business travelers yet a simple business transaction such as this will Prevent me from using their program in the future.
If the other programs have such a rule they do not enforce it, its the first time I've come across it.
So I will repsond to the CSR at Libertador to thank her for her kind offer and simply never stay there again, That of course is my choice

I would think and hope that as long as you are standing there to personally settle the account (whether it be with funds from your own credit card or someone else you are standing there with), that you would get full SPG credits.

The source of your funds should be immaterial. As long as you made an individual reservation and it's not a Master Bill situation...someone else's credit card (either standing right there in person next to you, or by hotel approved fax credit card authorization form)...should be fine, IMHO. As long as you are there to personally settle and close out the folio.

To me "personally settle" simply means that you are there in person to close out your account. Where your money is coming from is immaterial as long as it's not a Master Bill situation.

After all, with most credit cards you are paying with...those are the bank's funds, not yours! It's just that you are promising to pay the bank back.

But then again, I'm not in charge of interpreting the rules for anyone except myself. ;)

I would think and hope that as long as you are standing there to personally settle the account (whether it be with funds from your own credit card or someone else you are standing there with), that you would get full SPG credits.

The source of your funds should be immaterial. As long as you made an individual reservation and it's not a Master Bill situation...someone else's credit card (either standing right there in person next to you, or by hotel approved fax credit card authorization form)...should be fine, IMHO. As long as you are there to personally settle and close out the folio.

To me "personally settle" simply means that you are there in person to close out your account. Where your money is coming from is immaterial as long as it's not a Master Bill situation.

After all, with most credit cards you are paying with...those are the bank's funds, not yours! It's just that you are promising to pay the bank back.

But then again, I'm not in charge of interpreting the rules for anyone except myself. ;)

However, IMHO, very correctly interpreted. If the member is the principal guest registered to the room (read: not a guest in a room registered to the person in whose name the room is actually being held) and he/she pays at check-out using a credit card he/she is authorized to use, then who pays the bill of the credit card (for example, the company) is immaterial as long as it is not on a Master Bill.

If this describes the OP's situation, then he/she should fax the folio to Program Services at 512-836-4002 and let them sort it out. In the meantime, if I had the name of the guest, the exact name of the hotel, and the stay date information (all provided on a reservation confirmation number), then I could set about researching this on the SPG hotel coordinator end, possibly alleviating a repeat experience for another member, or even the OP if he/she chose to ever return.

Volley.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

That's exactly what we do all the time.

I've made the reservations and they are under my name. Sometimes I'll even have the second guest's name under the Comments field, but in essence the reservation is under my own.

At check-out, we provide another credit card for payment. It could be Starwood Lurker's personal credit card for all they care*.

Points are issued to me: The registered guest.

* Of course he won't complain ;) I'm a member of FlyerTalk :cool:

However, IMHO, very correctly interpreted. If the member is the principal guest registered to the room (read: not a guest in a room registered to the person in whose name the room is actually being held) and he/she pays at check-out using a credit card he/she is authorized to use, then who pays the bill of the credit card (for example, the company) is immaterial as long as it is not on a Master Bill.

William, now that you got yourself into this :D please tell us what what you mean by "pays at check-out using a credit card he/she is authorized to use". The devil is in the details, so I think we need to get this clarified to avoid unpleasant situations in the future.

I've got a question to prevent a similar situation for myself. I will be staying with my family at the Westin Villas on Maui this August. The rooms are both booked in my name, as I'm the only SPG member and I've made all the arrangements. However, I will be leaving a day earlier and thus will not be settling the bill in the end (because of this, the deposit is also not on my credit card). It doesn't seem like there will be an issue as I'm a guest and everything is still in my name, but I'd hate to lose 15k points on a little issue like this. Any suggestions?

In fact, I did review my bill myself at check out, signed it and waited for my GM to arrive at the Checkout and instructed him to pay both bills, which he did using a credit card from our Company. I think at least the clerk could have informed me that no points would be issued if paid in this manner. SPG Customer Service informed me it is at the HOTELS discretion to award points and nights credit according to the HOTELS policy. So to avoid future confusion I will ask any SPG Hotel I am considering if payment must be made by Myself or can be made by another party. I think its the only answer.

William, now that you got yourself into this :D please tell us what what you mean by "pays at check-out using a credit card he/she is authorized to use". The devil is in the details, so I think we need to get this clarified to avoid unpleasant situations in the future.

Is it a company-issued credit card that the member is authorized to use? If so, then the stay credit should be applied if the member is the primary registered guest in the room. Is it a credit card that belongs to the guest in the room or a company credit card that only the guest - not the member - is authorized to use? The member does not get credit because he did not pay for the room using a credit card that he was authorized to use. The guest also could not get credit if he was a member because he was not the primary registrant, only a guest.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Starwood Lurker...While I see in the T&Cs:

If you are a registered guest, you may receive Starpoints for Eligible Charges up to three rooms (i.e., your room plus two others) if all such rooms are registered in your name and you personally settle all room charges upon checkout.

...I don't see how using someone else's credit card who is standing next to you is not personally settling your account. The source of the funds should be immaterial (as long as it's not a Master Bill situation as those are not considered settled or closed upon checkout), shouldn't it? On both the other person's bank credit card and mine, the source of the funds is a bank. On neither is it our personal funds. The bank pays the hotel. We later repay the bank.

In addition and besides the above, I don't see anywhere in the T&Cs that states the account must be settled with a credit card that is in the same name of the registered guest-member. Only that the registered guest-member must personally settle the account.

The way I interpret the T&Cs (and was apparently oddly confirmed by a Starwood PlatCon as well over the phone once BTW), as long as the registered guest-member personally settles and closes the account using any method of payment that is acceptable to the hotel (another's personal credit card, company check, gift certificate, cash, whatever)...that it's good to go for normal SPG credits.

If another person is standing right there authorizing the use of their credit card...that's just the same as a company authorizing the use of their credit card. If fact, I think it would be a better form of authorized use...as the credit card owner is standing right there and can prove they are the owner!

That's just my opinion and experience.

T&C are written ONLY for the benefit of SPG and the hotels. They are only up to the interpretation of SPG and the hotels. They can interpret them ANY way they wish, and the customers are wrong. William quotes the T&C often, and uses them exactly in this manner....for the sole benefit of SPG and the hotels.

Starwood LurkerThat's just my opinion and experience.

And, you are more than welcomed to them both. ;) However, it is how we (SPG) interpret the rules that count, and IMHO, you got some bad information from Platinum Concierge if they told you that using someone else's credit card was anything more than someone else paying for the stay. :) That being said, there is not a more generously accommodating frequent stay program on the face of the planet than SPG when it comes to bending the rules.

Anyone is welcomed to take it up with Program Services if they feel their stay is eligible. They would be the final authority on the issue as this falls within their expertise. Fax #512-836-4002.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

I've read William's explanation twice and I'm still confused. Seems like a hotel could deny points even if a member's spouse paid with with a credit card on which the member wasn't also an authorized cardholder. Sheer lunacy, IMHO(by SPG, not William ;) ).

I've read William's explanation twice and I'm still confused. Seems like a hotel could deny points even if a member's spouse paid with with a credit card on which the member wasn't also an authorized...

Happens more often than you might think. And, it is a situation where I have personally granted hundreds of exceptions. ;) Wasn't there already a huge thread where we discussed this? Nothing has really changed since then.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

if the room is paid.

we should get the points. tell me one reason why we shouldnt?

even i have not many things to complain about, thats a rip-off.

its not customer friendly....

but ok, we have to live with that

dp

So to avoid future confusion I will ask any SPG Hotel I am considering if payment must be made by Myself or can be made by another party. I think its the only answer.

Is there no way for you to pay your own bill and fill out an expense report? That would be another solution.