Starwood Preferred Guest - Some upcoming changes for 2007...

But, probably not the kind you were expecting, so psych! ;)

Beginning January 1, 2007 guests who want to earn airline frequent flyer credit for a Starwood hotel stay will be required to enroll in Starwood Preferred Guest, if they are not already a member, and specifically elect to have earned Starpoints transferred to the airline of their choice through the Airline Direct Deposit program.

Hotels will no longer accept airline frequent flyer cards at check-in. Indeed, they will no longer have the capacity to process any airline transactions after December 31st of this year. Therefore, the only way to earn airline frequent flyer miles will be through SPG's Airline Direct Deposit program. In most cases, this will actually result in earning more airline frequent flyer miles, as it will be based upon the amount of eligible revenue spent at the hotel and not on a flat rate.

The number for guests to call to have the Airline Direct Deposit feature added to their SPG accounts to signify their desire to earn airline frequent flyer miles rather than Starpoints for their stay is 888-627-7143. If you anticipate this affecting you, I would call sometime between now and December 31, 2006.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

good. i found the other procedure to be quite unusual and ineffective.

will we be able to switch at our preference on our liking in our profile or will we have to call each time?

good. i found the other procedure to be quite unusual and ineffective.

will we be able to switch at our preference on our liking in our profile or will we have to call each time?

For the time being, you will have to call us each time you want to change your preference.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Does this apply to Amtrak points as well?

Does this apply to Amtrak points as well?

No, just for the airlines at the time being. But that being said, I did not realize that you could earn Amtrak points by staying at Starwood properties. I thought you could only redeem Amtrak points for stays at Starwood properties.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Amtrak Guest Rewards members can earn 500 Amtrak Points when presenting their Amtrak Guest Rewards card/number at check-in if they chose so. I usually go for the SPG points of course, but the times I asked for Amtrak points the clerks had to look around for the option, reasonably so, since I doubt many people usually opt for getting Amtrak points.

Amtrak Guest Rewards members can earn 500 Amtrak Points when presenting their Amtrak Guest Rewards card/number at check-in if they chose so. I usually go for the SPG points of course, but the times I asked for Amtrak points the clerks had to look around for the option, reasonably so, since I doubt many people usually opt for getting Amtrak points.

Thanks. I found some information on redeeming Amtrak points internally, but the earning portion is kind of hidden from view, so to speak. Took a little work to get there, so no, it doesn't surprise me that the hotels have a little difficulty with it as well. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

No, just for the airlines at the time being. But that being said, I did not realize that you could earn Amtrak points by staying at Starwood properties. I thought you could only redeem Amtrak points for stays at Starwood properties.

While I've known that earning AGR points was an option, I've never tried to actually clam them for a Starwood stay since I always wanted my stays to earn Starpoints, help earn elite status and above all else......count towards one (or more ;) ) of the SPG promos that I've been enrolled in. :cool:

A.J.

Thanks William! Will this affect our ability to convert starpoints to airline miles at the rate of 1 : 1.25?

Thanks William! Will this affect our ability to convert starpoints to airline miles at the rate of 1 : 1.25?

No, not for those airlines with a 1:1 transfer ratio anyway. But, to do that you have to transfer a minimum of 20,000 Starpoints in one fell swoop. This new change is simply another way of getting airline miles for a single stay instead of Starpoints. Some choose to do that even though most prefer to earn Starpoints and transfer a bulk of 20,000 in order to pick up the extra 5,000 Starpoints bonus.

I guess another benefit for the folks affected by this is that currently if you choose to earn airline miles instead of Starpoints, the stay does not count for status in SPG or for SPG promotional offers. Beginning January 1st, it will because the stay is first credited to the SPG account and then transferred out.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

William,

Any thoughts on the rumored Category 7 gleff brought up on his blog?
http://blogs.flyertalk.com/blogs/viewwing/

Since your raised the issue of upcoming changes ;)

William,

Any thoughts on the rumored Category 7 gleff brought up on his blog?
http://blogs.flyertalk.com/blogs/viewwing/

Since your raised the issue of upcoming changes ;)

I would be glad to share with you exactly what I told gleff yesterday when he contacted me in regard to this item. Here is my reply verbatim:

"If we are talking about me confirming something speculative that can be published at Flyertalk or View From the Wing, I'll have to take a pass. I'm pretty sure that if this is in the works, it will be public knowledge soon and there will be ample opportunity for weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth at that time."

So anything else related to changes in the program will be revealed in their own proper time and place. :)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

In most cases, this will actually result in earning more airline frequent flyer miles, as it will be based upon the amount of eligible revenue spent at the hotel and not on a flat rate.

Most cases is not all cases. :eek:

This will be worse for many guests currently doing one-night stays (at sub-$250 rates) and who are more interested in airline miles than SPG points in the near term.

It will also be worse for many guests doing two-night stays at sub-$125/night rates.

Also, the upcoming changes in SPG points for hotel redemptions are not going to bring smiles to most FTers' faces.

Most cases is not all cases. :eek:

This will be worse for many guests currently doing one-night stays (at sub-$250 rates) and who are more interested in airline miles than SPG points in the near term.

It will also be worse for many guests doing two-night stays at sub-$125/night rates.

Also, the upcoming changes in SPG points for hotel redemptions are not going to bring smiles to most FTers' faces.

Two points to consider here: one, I never said it was going to be ideal for every single traveler, but the fact is that most people will see a net increase in their earning ability; two, while I would like very much to put a smile on every Flyertalker's face, I can assure you that I gave up on that a long time ago. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Two points to consider here: one, I never said it was going to be ideal for every single traveler, but the fact is that most people will see a net increase in their earning ability; two, while I would like very much to put a smile on every Flyertalker's face, I can assure you that I gave up on that a long time ago. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Given the hotel industry's occupancy rates and pricing power, it was hard to see miles & point scroungers winning the game as much as done before. So no real, unexpected disappointment for me. Maybe in the next economic downturn the pendulum will swing too. :eek:

the fact is that most people will see a net increase in their earning ability;[/email]Actually, this isn't quite correct, since airline direct deposit is an option already. Folks who would earn more via airline direct deposit can already choose to do so. Or they can choose the base airline mileage earning, which is more valuable for them on inexpensive stays.

Still, I completely understand this change. It does not concern me at all. It should make things simpler, lead to fewer missing airline mileage claims, and doesn't really take away that much from earning ability.

And who are those silly folks that claim airline miles for their stays anyway? :confused: Since they can't correctly handle choice (since they don't choose to earn SPG points) they shouldn't be given choice :D

Actually, this isn't quite correct, since airline direct deposit is an option already. Folks who would earn more via airline direct deposit can already choose to do so...

Not quite. Under the current system, you have to be invited to participate in a Direct Deposit option. We often entice people to do so by adding Gold elite as a sweetner to the deal.

Yeah, I know there are probably lots out there that have successfully gamed the system to participate off and on for the Direct Deposit option, but that was never our intial intention of having it. We can probably thank the folks here at Flyertalk for giving you the impression otherwise. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Not quite. Under the current system, you have to be invited to participate in a Direct Deposit option. We often entice people to do so by adding Gold elite as a sweetner to the deal.Wow, whaddaya know, I actually had no idea that airline direct deposit wasn't just a standard option (for those airlines participating, of course).

Wow, whaddaya know, I actually had no idea that airline direct deposit wasn't just a standard option (for those airlines participating, of course).

Well, it's about to be. ;) I just hope we don't lose any of our current partners over it because next year, if you don't participate in the Direct Deposit option, you will apparently no longer be a partner airline with SPG. :(

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Yikes. I hope that doesn't affect transfer partners. :eek:

The extensive partner list is one of the very cool things about SPG ^

Yikes. I hope that doesn't affect transfer partners. :eek:

The extensive partner list is one of the very cool things about SPG ^

I don't think so. I think it only has to do with the earning side of things. But, I've been wrong before. ;) We'll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Sounds like a good change in the right direction.

Deleted

Not quite. Under the current system, you have to be invited to participate in a Direct Deposit option. We often entice people to do so by adding Gold elite as a sweetner to the deal.

Yeah, I know there are probably lots out there that have successfully gamed the system to participate off and on for the Direct Deposit option, but that was never our intial intention of having it. We can probably thank the folks here at Flyertalk for giving you the impression otherwise. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

gold is an enticement? :-)

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

I benefited from the Direct Deposit by picking up the Gold elite status like you mentioned. I would, however, prefer to keep my SPG points to take advantage of the better exchange rate at 20,000 SPG points. Must I keep the Direct Deposit as is, or am I able to switch back to regular earning?


Not quite. Under the current system, you have to be invited to participate in a Direct Deposit option. We often entice people to do so by adding Gold elite as a sweetner to the deal.

Yeah, I know there are probably lots out there that have successfully gamed the system to participate off and on for the Direct Deposit option, but that was never our intial intention of having it. We can probably thank the folks here at Flyertalk for giving you the impression otherwise. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

to my understanding, while the gold status is attached to direct deposit for some airlines, its only valid for namely american based airlines. for example, i use qantas as my direct deposit airline but im not aware that i get to keep gold status for the lifetime of the direct deposit and its a sore point with spg.

I benefited from the Direct Deposit by picking up the Gold elite status like you mentioned. I would, however, prefer to keep my SPG points to take advantage of the better exchange rate at 20,000 SPG points. Must I keep the Direct Deposit as is, or am I able to switch back to regular earning?

If you want to keep the Gold membership for the year+ that it is offered in conjunction with the Direct Deposit option, you have to retain the Direct Deposit option. After a year+ it won't matter anyway as the Gold membership is only good for that long. The account will downgrade on its own if you don't have enough stays to re-earn Gold past the year+ period you are given to start with, so keeping Direct Deposit to maintain Gold status would be a moot point.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com