Starwood Preferred Guest - Buy 3 nights get 4th free, points?

On this offer are you able to use points to purchase one of the nights? I am assuming the answer is no?

Would be at the Sheraton resort Abu Dhabi

Nope. Z4R is a cash rate type.

But you could use the buy 2 nights get 1 free (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promotions/promo_detail2.html?propertyID=446&promoCode=Z3R) offer, and then book a fourth night with points, so effectively yes!

Nope, however like Moriens said, there is the buy 2 get one free promotion. If this is a non resort hotel, you must check in on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday for the B2GOF Promo. However if you then use points one night you open if up so you can check in any night except monday or tuesday if this is a non resort

How do you get to the Buy 2 nights Get one free link, not specific to the Abu Dhabi resort? Thanks.

How do you get to the Buy 2 nights Get one free link, not specific to the Abu Dhabi resort? Thanks.

Here are all of the BuyX/GetX offers that I'm aware of.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promotions/promo_landing.html?category=GENDRE_H

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Here are all of the BuyX/GetX offers that I'm aware of.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promotions/promo_landing.html?category=GENDRE_H

Those offers are specific to non-resort hotels, and have day-of-week restrictions: Saturday night stayover, except for the 6-day version which is valid anytime, and the two day 20% off which works for Thursday arrivals.

There are also equivalent offers for resorts here: GENDRE_R (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promotions/promo_landing.html?category=GENDRE_R). You can also click the "Explore our Resort [Hotel] Offers" link to switch between one and the other. The resort offers are valid any day of the week, though some resorts seem to make them unavailable during their busiest times.

The discounts are based on the best available rate for the whole stay, but the discounted reservations are not refundable.

In this case, the OP may be in luck. This hotel does participate in the Z3R rate. However, there are some hotels that offer Z4R but that never offer Z3R. But availability may vary. I have seen periods in which the Westin Grand Bahama had Z4R but no Z3R, for example.

Searching for these rates has become interesting in the past year or so. In many cases, you can search for these rates in the regular spg.com reservations pages to check for availability. For example, if you search for this hotel in spg.com reservations for 7/20/08 - 7/24/08, then choose "Promo Code" from the "Rate Preferences/Promotion Codes(AAA, Corporate and more)" selection box, and then enter "Z4R" into the field next to it, then you'll see a list of rates labelled as "Dynamic Rate Engine" with prices ranging from AED 800 to AED 4500. (In some cases, I've also seen these display the multiple days much like the Offer's results.)

Searching for this in spg.com can be nice because 1) it's less tedious to change your search to different dates in spg.com rather than in the offer's search engine and 2) you'll see all of the available rates rather than just 6.

This second point can be quite revealing. The offer's search engine doesn't sort by lowest-to-highest price. So unless you pick and choose different bed types or smoking preferences, you may never narrow down the list to show you all of the available options. Spg.com will show you all resulting rates, though. For example, for the above hotel and dates, spg.com shows you that in addition to the "1 King" for AED 800, there is also "2 Twins:join as King" for the same price. (Or go all out for the Presidential Suite for AED 4500.) These options didn't show up on the Offer's search results unless you specifically checked the bed type. And it's even possible that some rates will never show to you if a particular bed type is represented by more than 6 different room types at that property.*

I DO NOT recommend booking this rate from spg.com if all of the terms and conditions are not clearly showing you the free night. Instead, return to the Offer's page to search and book it. Personally, I'd always return to the offer's page to make the final booking regardless of whether spg.com shows the proper T&Cs.

*I have previously reported this as a bug, but I don't know that I ever heard back about it. I'd say it's a bug because the bottom of the Offer's search results often has "<Previous 1 - 6 Next>" on the list but never offers "Next" as an option. (i.e. "Next" is always just greyed out.)

Those offers are specific to non-resort hotels, and have day-of-week restrictions: Saturday night stayover, except for the 6-day version which is valid anytime, and the two day 20% off which works for Thursday arrivals.

There are also equivalent offers for resorts here: GENDRE_R (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promotions/promo_landing.html?category=GENDRE_R). You can also click the "Explore our Resort [Hotel] Offers" link to switch between one and the other. The resort offers are valid any day of the week, though some resorts seem to make them unavailable during their busiest times.

The discounts are based on the best available rate for the whole stay, but the discounted reservations are not refundable.
Clarification: these rates are PREPAID and NONREFUNDABLE.

There are some excellent deals to be had if one can live with the restrictions (I've booked them a number of times).

Also, there are many, many, many threads on this set of "promos." Starwood has been running these for years.

Also, there are many, many, many threads on this set of "promos." Starwood has been running these for years.
And yet I didn't spot these threads in The SPG Forum FAQ & Hotel Master Thread Links (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=699676) sticky.

Mods, here is my suggestion for that Sticky:
Starwood Special Offers webpages for Buy X Get 1 Free prepaid rates
Pay for two nights, Stay third free (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=769071)
Where is the link for the buy four, get two free promo? (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782708)
Buy 3 nights get 4th free, points? (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=845863)
Buy two nights get third night free (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=669386)

Mods, here is my suggestion for that Sticky:
Starwood Special Offers webpages for Buy X Get 1 Free prepaid rates
Pay for two nights, Stay third free (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=769071)
Where is the link for the buy four, get two free promo? (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782708)
Buy 3 nights get 4th free, points? (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=845863)
Buy two nights get third night free (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=669386)

I couldn't find it mentioned. As opposed to C&P, these rates all earn points?

Yes, these all earn points, stay credit, and night credit. They are discount cash rates -- not awards.

Yes, these all earn points, stay credit, and night credit. They are discount cash rates -- not awards.

If I were to book a z3r, would that qualify as 2 nights or 3? I'm contemplating switching a 3 night stay from C/P to z3r and I'm trying to calculate how many points it would earn me with the Night After Night promo. The property is on the 1,000 point/night list and I'm wondering if I'd get 2,000 or 3,000 points out of it. My gut says 2,000, but I thought I'd ask.

If I were to book a z3r, would that qualify as 2 nights or 3?...

Three. The rate is averaged over the three-day stay.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Three. The rate is averaged over the three-day stay.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Good news! So much for my gut...:rolleyes: