Starwood Preferred Guest - What kind of exchange rate is SPG using??? (Update: poster error)

I am going to blame this post on Monday morning blues. My calculations were wayyy off (i was thinking in opposites). Pretty dumb for a CFA level 2 and Finance major, which is why I blame it on monday morning blues :) Carry on!

come on... it's only some pity points.. consider that I only got 1.02 CAD back in September..

Call them on it. Every time I go to Canada I have to. Every point counts.

come on... it's only some pity points.. consider that I only got 1.02 CAD back in September..

Individually, yes, it is some pity points. However, collectively, in all their Canadian hotels, they are saving a lot of points by using an unfair, and extremely out dated exchange rate.

edit.

Hmmm ... the Canadian dollar is going down the toilet and is worth a lot less than the US dollar today. Currently 1 US$ is worth 1.3 Cdn$.

However even if we use your exchange rate of 1.2, your spend of Cdn$1393 = US$1160. So at 2 pts/$ spent, the most you should have got was 2320 pts. Looks like you did OK to me!

Hmmm ... the Canadian dollar is going down the toilet and is worth a lot less than the US dollar today. Currently 1 US$ is worth 1.3 Cdn$.

However even if we use your exchange rate of 1.2, your spend of Cdn$1393 = US$1160. So at 2 pts/$ spent, the most you should have got was 2320 pts. Looks like you did OK to me!

Yes, but you took unfair advantage of research and facts rather than siding with the aggrieved OP.

Hmmm ... the Canadian dollar is going down the toilet and is worth a lot less than the US dollar today. Currently 1 US$ is worth 1.3 Cdn$.

However even if we use your exchange rate of 1.2, your spend of Cdn$1393 = US$1160. So at 2 pts/$ spent, the most you should have got was 2320 pts. Looks like you did OK to me!


As stated in my first post, blaming this one on the monday blues. I was thinking opposite for some crazy reason.

I'm sure the decline (again) of the Canadian dollar will kill any chances we had of getting the SPG MBNA mastercard revamped as a true 1:1 whenever the agreement on that came up.

Regards,
Michael

I am going to blame this post on Monday morning blues. My calculations were wayyy off (i was thinking in opposites). Pretty dumb for a CFA level 2 and Finance major, which is why I blame it on monday morning blues :) Carry on!

Uhm... did you pass level 2? cause i don't believe that is the correct use of the CFA designation..... LOL

I was always on the cusp each year cause ethics seems like such a "gray" area to me.... :P

Uhm... did you pass level 2? cause i don't believe that is the correct use of the CFA designation..... LOL

I was always on the cusp each year cause ethics seems like such a "gray" area to me.... :P

haha yes i did, and technically this is not the correct way. I am a CFA Candidate who has completed level 2. Happier :P

haha yes i did, and technically this is not the correct way. I am a CFA Candidate who has completed level 2. Happier :P

Good thing, i was gonna have to report you.... j/k. I just couldn't believe how much time they spent on how to properly use those letters. funny and sad at the same time. Lvl II was a tought one, congrats.

I am going to blame this post on Monday morning blues. My calculations were wayyy off (i was thinking in opposites). Pretty dumb for a CFA level 2 and Finance major, which is why I blame it on monday morning blues :) Carry on!

From personal experience, you'll get different FX rates with different hotels. I've noticed this when I've stayed at 2 different hotels with the exact same CAD nightly rate. As such, I've got a feeling the hotel may be the one applying the FX rate and not SPG.

Lurkers, feel free to discredit my theory. ;)

From personal experience, you'll get different FX rates with different hotels. I've noticed this when I've stayed at 2 different hotels with the exact same CAD nightly rate. As such, I've got a feeling the hotel may be the one applying the FX rate and not SPG.

Lurkers, feel free to discredit my theory. ;)

They are actually providing a BENEFICIAL FX rate currently compared to the market.

...As such, I've got a feeling the hotel may be the one applying the FX rate and not SPG.

Lurkers, feel free to discredit my theory. ;)

Not sure exactly, but I always thought that Starwood's corporate revenue department told the hotels what to load as far as exchange rates are concerned. It is probably more determined by location/currency rather than how much the room rate is, right? I mean if a hotel in Canada is charging US$200 per night and one in Zimbabwe is charging the same, the exchange rate is certainly going to be different for the US$200...or am I confused, as usual when it comes to numbers. ;)

Best regards,

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

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

You may be right. Although, the 2 different hotels charging the same CAD nightly rate (and posting with different FX rates) were about 5 min away from each other. ;)

You may be right. Although, the 2 different hotels charging the same CAD nightly rate (and posting with different FX rates) were about 5 min away from each other. ;)

LOL. Proof positive that even though someone tells them what to use, it is up to them to implement it, I guess. ;)

Nonetheless, any anomalies can and should be reported to Program Services by faxing the hotel bill to 519-633-8557.

Best regards,

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

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

I had a stay at the Westin Halifax on Oct 14. My room rate was C$160.65, but I only received 280 base points plus 140 elite bonus. That works out to an exchange rate of 0.87. On Oct 14, the actual exchange rate was 0.97, so the equivalent rate should have been US$156. I wrote to research@starwoodhotels.com, and I just got an e-mail confirming that they adjusted my rate to US$150. I'm not going to bother writing again, but why would they do this? It's bad enough that I have to write in the first place to get the correct points, why couldn't they err on the side of the customer, instead of shortchanging me a second time! :rolleyes:

Don't blame SPG - it's all up to the hotel. We've stayed at the Starwood properties in Vancouver, and all of them credited us more than we deserved - basically giving us one point per Canadian dollar, and this was at the beginning of the year when the exchange rate was closer to 1.28:1!

I agree, hotel did use an incorrect exchange rate. SPG had a chance to rectify the error, but they still did not use the correct exchange rate when they adjusted the points received, which is why I'm so annoyed. I have to go through the hassle of contacting them, and they still did not give me the points I was entitled to! If anything, they should give me more as a goodwill gesture instead of shortchanging me a second time.