Starwood Preferred Guest - Aussie struggling to get SPG points-William, help?

I am not yet a SPG member but I might join up in the future. The problem is for Aussies, there are very few points earning opportunities. My home town, Brisbane has no Starwood properties at all. The only travel I would be doing between now and next July is a cruise to New Caledonia & Vanuatu so I won't need any hotel stays.

What I am trying to do is earn enough points to book 2 nights in Rio next July. I may not get enough for free nights 14K, but I am pretty sure I can score enough points from Amex Rewards to get 5600 points for "Cash plus Points".

The problem seems to be that I can't get any qualifying activity on a SPG membership to get the points to make the account active so I can transfer the Amex MR points over. The only possibility is if we get meals/drinks at one of the Le Meridiens in Noumea, Isle des Pins or Port Vila.

Aussies have no co-branded credit cards, just the Amex Membership Rewards. Possibly we can get points for flowers we have delivered to friends in the States on 1-800-flowers.

What I want to know:

Will the meals at the Le Meridiens mentioned above get me "qualifying activity"? Do they participate in SPG?

Can Aussies get points from flowers?

Can I use the points transferred from Amex MR to redeem the Cash Plus Points award in Rio?

Does Tahiti Sheraton or Le Meridien have SPG50 available? If so, what is the "rack rate"? Is it on the internet?

So many questions to answer. First of all, I wasn't aware that you can't transfer MR points to your account if it is inactive or you have never used it before. Can anyone confirm this?

Because if that's not the case, you can simply transfer your points and then, of course, use them for a C&P award whereever you like. The points will just be "normal" SPG points after the transfer.

I think the French Polynesia properties are always a bit different and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have SPG50 availability. As a matter of fact I think I recall that they don't. But don't quote me on that.

In general, every hotel that participates in SPG will earn you points on meals at the hotel even if you do not stay there. You have to spend a min. of US$10 or equivalent at the restaurant though. So, if you're in Sydney any time soon, you could have drinks or dinner at an SPG property and you will earn 2 points per US$ for that.

I feel for you with no SPG property in Brisbane. If anyone at Starwood listens: We NEED another SPG property there as soon as possible. All my 50 odd nights per year currently go to Hilton and IC because there is no SPG property left.

Cash & Points award options have not been announced for 2007 yet, and they likely won't be announced until around late January. (Earlier would be a treat.) It's up to each hotel to decide if and when they participate in this special offer.

Only two properties in Rio (Sheraton Barra and Le Meridien) offered C&P awards this year, and there's no guarantee that a Rio property will do so again next year. Also no guarantee that their SPG Category won't change. (I'm sure that someone more familiar with these properties could judge the likelihood of such an adjustment.)

If C&P awards are offered, then transferred AmEx points can be used.

What I am trying to do is earn enough points to book 2 nights in Rio next July.

Tiki, have you considered that outright paying for the rooms in Rio might be cheaper than doing mileage runs to get enough points for the stays?

As great as the SPG program is (don't get me wrong), if you're not traveling enough, or staying at enough *wood properties, it can be a very long and slow battle to accrue enough for free stays at decent hotels.

Also, maybe Hilton is a better chain for you than *Wood to accrue points with.

One more quick though, although BNE no longer has a Sheraton (which is a shame) if you really, really want to do some bed runs, there's a Sheraton not too far North in Noosa Heads.

(And, as a very big aside, I used to live in Indooroopilly and I really miss BNE. Do me a favor and take the City Cat to the Regatta and have a beer for me. Actually, have several. :cool: )

...What I want to know:

Will the meals at the Le Meridiens mentioned above get me "qualifying activity"? Do they participate in SPG?

Both of these Le Meridien's participate in SPG, so the only question left is does the dining establishments you have in mind allow you to charge meals to the room account if you were a guest? If so, then you are good to go. Only the hotel is going to be able to answer that, however.

Can Aussies get points from flowers?

This question would be better if it were posed to 1800Flowers:

http://ww1.1800flowers.com/flowers/welcome.asp?firstEntry=Y&cloneb=GooPerf&cm%5Fmmc=Tagged%2D%5F%2DNA%2D%5F%2DNA%2D%5F%2DNA

Can I use the points transferred from Amex MR to redeem the Cash Plus Points award in Rio?

Yes, once you have some legitimate Starpoints earned from a hotel source.

Does Tahiti Sheraton or Le Meridien have SPG50 available? If so, what is the "rack rate"? Is it on the internet?

Best you can do at either location is SPG35. What RACK rate is often depends upon the season. It may or may not be on the Internet. Probably not if there are a bevy of discount rates available.

Now, I have a question of my own. Isn't Melbourne or Sydney closer to Brisbane than Caledonia or Vanuatu? ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

is it expensive and possible for the op to stay at the le meridiens?

Thanks everyone! We are on a P&O cruise which happens to go to New Caledonia and Vanuatu, it leaves direct from Brisbane.

While we aren't really frequent travellers, we have potentially heaps of points on the Amex just from groceries, petrol, phones, the airline tickets--just points accrued from everyday living. So if we can use these points plus $45 to stay in a nicer hotel then we would normally get like a backpacker dive, why not? We do one major trip per year, next year will be RTW focussing on PPT, IPC, Peru & Brazil.

Hmmm, I never thought of HHonours because they don't do Tahiti which is our favourite holiday spot-expensive so points are nice! But the IC is full one of the days we want (we have enough PC points for 2 nights), the SPGs are expensive so we shifted the points burning focus to Rio. I'll look into Hiltons in Rio, gotta run-late for work!

I haven't been on a City Cat in years! LOL-too car dependant!