Starwood Preferred Guest - What a good Starpoint value?

I debating about using my Starpoints for a reward stay. It's a category 3 and I am only staying for one night. The room is going for around $325 a night which translates into about $21.50 per starpoint.

Is there a benchmark out there for getting good "value" of using your Starpoints?

BTW, in Germany, if most paid rates include breakfast, do you get breakfast on reward stays or just on paid stays?

- HobokenFlyer

The stay will cost 7,000 points. $325/7000 = 4.6 cents/point - an excellent exchange rate. Go for it!! (Even if the award stay doesn't include breakfast, it's still a good deal.)

There's lots of threads on "what's a Starpoint worth" and such.

Generally, if you're getting at least 2.5 to 3 cents per point, it's a decent deal. Many FTers report getting much better deals than that.

But I have to ask, is $325 the absolute best deal you can get at this hotel for a paid stay? Would it be possible to get a special rate of some kind, or perhaps a SPG50 stay? If so, that would drastically alter the comparison.

And don't forget to include the "lost opportunity" costs (i.e., Starpoints you forego by not paying for the room) in your calculations.

For example, paying $325 for the stay (presuming no tax - that could affect the result slightly) would mean earning 650 points (975 if Gold or Platinum) on the base plus, if paid with the Starwood AMEX, an additional 325 points for a total of 1300. Since you don't get those for an award stay, the award actually "costs" you the 7000 Starpoints you pay, plus the 1300 you don't get, for a total of 8300.

$325 divided by 8300 = 3.92 cents per point, which is still a very good deal!

One Hundred... Billion dollars... :D

I shoot for about 3 cents per. Starpoints take the sting out of ridiculously overpriced properties that supply and demand take out of the leisure FlyerTalker's "mileage run" rate range. ;)

I'd agree with most other posters that your $325 for 7000 (+ 1300) starpoints is a good deal. Since you are a PLAT too, you will probably get some sort of upgrade which can be taken into account as well (though in some cases you may get a better upgrade if you pay for the stay than if you use points).

sorry. duplicate posting.

...BTW, in Germany, if most paid rates include breakfast, do you get breakfast on reward stays or just on paid stays?

- HobokenFlyer

Breakfast is usually not included on awards. Even at those hotels whose regular paid rates include it. However, some hotels are more generous than others and include it. The former Four Points by Sheraton Austin comes to mind...for all the dissing they used to get. ;) Regardless, it would be up to the property to decide whether they want to or not.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

And don't forget to include the "lost opportunity" costs (i.e., Starpoints you forego by not paying for the room) in your calculations.

Considering the "lost points" is important, but also consider taxes.

By staying on an award, you do not pay any taxes. In places like NYC, this is about a 15% increase in the cost of the room and SPG does not even give you any points for it (though the Amex will)! A $325 room there would also carry about $50 in taxes. I am not sure where you are staying, but it is probably at least 10%.

Any points you earn from the stay, unless you are getting some (probably targetted) bonuses or promotions, are easily offset by not having to pay taxes. The other reason to pay for it is if you need it to qualify for status. You could also just simply factor this into the room rate when doing your calculations.

To make a long story short, if the room goes for $325 + taxes and it is a cat 3 hotel, I would use points just about every time.

Considering the "lost points" is important, but also consider taxes.

By staying on an award, you do not pay any taxes. In places like NYC, this is about a 15% increase in the cost of the room and SPG does not even give you any points for it (though the Amex will)! A $325 room there would also carry about $50 in taxes. I am not sure where you are staying, but it is probably at least 10%.

Any points you earn from the stay, unless you are getting some (probably targetted) bonuses or promotions, are easily offset by not having to pay taxes. The other reason to pay for it is if you need it to qualify for status. You could also just simply factor this into the room rate when doing your calculations.

To make a long story short, if the room goes for $325 + taxes and it is a cat 3 hotel, I would use points just about every time.

This is not entirely true. In some places (New York being one of them), you do pay modest taxes of a few dollars a day. There was actually just a recent thread on this.

That said, I do not believe that any property has taxes on award stays more than $10/night.

Additionally, some hotels do charge a surcharge or resort fee even on award stays. I believe the Sheraton Kauai does this (at about $30/day) on the resort fee side, and the Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco Sheraton does this on the extra guest side ($20-$40 per each additional guest above two).

Thanks for everyone's responses. I did that calculation at 4am so please pardon my bad math (insomnia); I also apologize for my poor grammar (forgot the 's in the "what").

I did do a search before I posted; it was "Starpoint value"; nothing came up that was super obvious, so that's why I asked the question. I will always do a search as a courtesy to other members, but if I can't find the right keyword combos to get what I am looking for I will ask the question.

I am doing a whirlwind trip of Germany because of CO's very cheap $265 RT EWR-CGN fare. I am first overnighting in Cologne, then driving to Konstanz to visit relatives for one night, then driving to Munich for another night before working my way back to Cologne for another night to catch my flight home the next day.

Right now, I have the Sheraton Four Points Central in Munich for the AAA rate of 100 euro with breakfast. However, I would love to stay at the Le Meridien because of the closeness to Hauptbanhof (since we are going to have less than 24 hours in Munich I want to be at the hub of the U-Bahn, so I can get around easily). The Four Points is close to a U-Bahn station, but from what I read, it's 10-15 minutes walk from the Hbf. I figured if I can stay at the Le Meridien, it saves me time which I don't have much of in Munich.

The Le Meridien is coming up at around $325; the SPG50 award would be 200 euro because full rack is 395 euros. Since this is a personal vacation and not business for me, i am trying to save money....therefore my trying to use my points. I know I would be losing one night towards my status, but it's only 1 night.

Thanks for everyone's help because I just wanted to make sure that I was justified in using my points because I am saving most of them someday when I get married for a honeymoon and don't want to waste 7k points for something that wasn't a good value.

Regards,

HobokenFlyer

Thanks for everyone's responses. I did that calculation at 4am so please pardon my bad math (insomnia); I also apologize for my poor grammar (forgot the 's in the "what").

I did do a search before I posted; it was "Starpoint value"; nothing came up that was super obvious, so that's why I asked the question. I will always do a search as a courtesy to other members, but if I can't find the right keyword combos to get what I am looking for I will ask the question.

I am doing a whirlwind trip of Germany because of CO's very cheap $265 RT EWR-CGN fare. I am first overnighting in Cologne, then driving to Konstanz to visit relatives for one night, then driving to Munich for another night before working my way back to Cologne for another night to catch my flight home the next day.

Right now, I have the Sheraton Four Points Central in Munich for the AAA rate of 100 euro with breakfast. However, I would love to stay at the Le Meridien because of the closeness to Hauptbanhof (since we are going to have less than 24 hours in Munich I want to be at the hub of the U-Bahn, so I can get around easily). The Four Points is close to a U-Bahn station, but from what I read, it's 10-15 minutes walk from the Hbf. I figured if I can stay at the Le Meridien, it saves me time which I don't have much of in Munich.

The Le Meridien is coming up at around $325; the SPG50 award would be 200 euro because full rack is 395 euros. Since this is a personal vacation and not business for me, i am trying to save money....therefore my trying to use my points. I know I would be losing one night towards my status, but it's only 1 night.

Thanks for everyone's help because I just wanted to make sure that I was justified in using my points because I am saving most of them someday when I get married for a honeymoon and don't want to waste 7k points for something that wasn't a good value.

Regards,

HobokenFlyer

The lists for Cash + Points this quarter are not up yet and SPG.com is giving me an error when I try to access the page, but perhaps Le Meridien will be available on that list. If that is the case, you could get award with 2800 SPG points and $45.

The lists for Cash + Points this quarter are not up yet and SPG.com is giving me an error when I try to access the page, but perhaps Le Meridien will be available on that list. If that is the case, you could get award with 2800 SPG points and $45.

Yes, I went to look at that last night and I was getting the same error....I just haven't yet called the SPG Service Center to see what was available. Thanks for the reminder though!

- HF

This is not entirely true. In some places (New York being one of them), you do pay modest taxes of a few dollars a day. There was actually just a recent thread on this.

Strange. I just stayed at the St. Regis NY last Friday night on an award stay and paid no taxes. I also have stayed at the W Times Square on an award and paid no taxes. If you stay on cash and points, you do pay taxes on the cash portion - at least I did pay tax in Montreal on it. As for a pure award stay, I have never, ever paid a nickel in taxes. That being said, C&P is a better deal than a pure award stay since, for example, you can save 6k points for spending $60+tax on a cat 4 award stay. Before tax, that is a penny a point.

As to the resort fees, yes they are required even for award stays. I had to pay them at a couple places, the Westin Maui comes to mind.

Yes, I went to look at that last night and I was getting the same error....I just haven't yet called the SPG Service Center to see what was available. Thanks for the reminder though!

- HF

I talked with the Plat concierge last night and apparently there are no C&P hotel lists released yet. The web page is actually deceptive, as on the page where it tells you the cash and point requirements per category, the category numbers are clickable. These numbers show the complete list of hotels in that category, not the ones that have C&P. The pages that should show C&P are all, as you found, broken links. I told the rep that the website needs a little work and she chuckled.

I completed a two-nighter at W Union Square in November. It was marathon weekend - there truly were no good hotel options in Manhattan under $400/nt., and I was willing to consider anything down to about Courtyard level (far less nice than a W). My final bill was $0.

I called it roughly a 4 cent per point redemption. Figure I would've booked something an off-brand 3* property (earning no points) and paid about $480/nt with all the taxes. Pretty good deal for 24k Starpoints, and I enjoyed the property itself and the neighborhood much more than I've enjoyed some of the big business hotels I've stayed in in Midtown. Add in the simple fact that there is no way I would ever pull the trigger on a $480/nt hotel room.

I think the W itself was asking something like $600 a night.

Strange. I just stayed at the St. Regis NY last Friday night on an award stay and paid no taxes. I also have stayed at the W Times Square on an award and paid no taxes. If you stay on cash and points, you do pay taxes on the cash portion - at least I did pay tax in Montreal on it. As for a pure award stay, I have never, ever paid a nickel in taxes. That being said, C&P is a better deal than a pure award stay since, for example, you can save 6k points for spending $60+tax on a cat 4 award stay. Before tax, that is a penny a point.

As to the resort fees, yes they are required even for award stays. I had to pay them at a couple places, the Westin Maui comes to mind.

I have NEVER paid any taxes on an award stay either. My last stay in December 2006 was at the W Union Square in NYC. My bill was ZERO.

My mistake on the New York taxes before, I neglected to read William's comment towards the end of the thread.

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=581439&highlight=new+york+taxes

To clarify, there shouldn't be any taxes on a points stay.

I got a pretty good reservation using points at the 50% rate due to the Platinum promotion this year. Lucky for flyertalk that I knew about it since the supposed snail mail did not arrive. Staying in SF for four nights in a cat 4 for 20k and the rate with taxes would be $1356 for all four nights.

Had to use this promotion before it expires in Feb, or at least before any hotels jump categories.

Just reserved a nights and flights at the Sheraton Towers in NYC for May 2007, 30,000 points for five nights, saving ~$2,500 incl tax. Of course you need 70,000 to use that award (Category 4 hotel). Very compelling value. Even though I prefer other hotels, the deal is too good to turn down.

5 night award stay at the St. Regis in Aspen, 12/30/07-1/04/08 for 60k points (5th night free). The room rates are around $1700/night right now, so by my calculations, those 60k starpoints are worth around $0.14 each.

^ ^ ^

Right now, I have the Sheraton Four Points Central in Munich for the AAA rate of 100 euro with breakfast. However, I would love to stay at the Le Meridien because of the closeness to Hauptbanhof (since we are going to have less than 24 hours in Munich I want to be at the hub of the U-Bahn, so I can get around easily). The Four Points is close to a U-Bahn station, but from what I read, it's 10-15 minutes walk from the Hbf. I figured if I can stay at the Le Meridien, it saves me time which I don't have much of in Munich.

The 4-Points Central is not really 10 - 15 minutes walk from the Munich Hauptbahnhof, unless you're just moseying along. The Le Meridien is really close to the Hauptbahnhof, which can be a factor if luggage is involved, but you should easily be able to walk from the Central to the Hauptbahnhof in under 10 minutes.

Okay -

Just reserved at the Westin Puerto Vallarta on points during next December's Christmas vacation. As it is a vacation week, the lowest rate, including taxes, is $725 per night. Five nights would equal $3,625. With one free night on points and each night costing 7,000 points (at least until February), I got $3,625 worth of room for 28,000 points, just a hair under 13 cents per point. Go Starwood!