Starwood Preferred Guest - Relationship between SET codes and Inventory

Apologies if this has been asked/answered before -- I did a search but couldn't find an answer to this particular question...

I was searching for a specific room type, which appeared to be unavailable for my travel dates (confirmed both by searching on SPG.com, and by the property itself); but immediately after I changed my Rate Preference to our corporate SET code, I was able to see plenty of available inventory in the room type, and the room type above it. (This all transpired in the span on five minutes, and I called the hotel again, who again said that room type was unavailable.)

Granted, I didn't call the SPG Platinum line, but I am curious as to why the property itself wouldn't be able to see the available inventory (unless there is some sort of corporate arrangement that blocks off rooms for organizations until X date, before making them available to the public).

William, is this something you are allowed to share with us? It isn't a big deal, but I was just generally curious as to how SETs affect availability.

Try a different SET #, such as 298940 (AAA)

Try a different SET #, such as 298940 (AAA)

Thanks Bondiboy. I tried the AAA SET earlier, and no inventory... so far, the only time the rooms appear online are with our corporate SET.

Perhaps your company has a very good contract with Starwood that requires them to have specific room availability up to a certain percentage of rooms booked or a certain number of days in advance of your stay. (This is pure conjecture on my part.)

SET code definitely affects availability. I've had cases where no King rooms were available until I entered the AAA code.

Hi sachgosh,

According to what I have gathered from my colleagues, there is a possibility that due to the contract between your company and the property, certain rooms have been pre-allocated for representatives of this company, thus those rooms will only be available to them when they apply the SET code to their reservation.

apguest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Hi sachgosh,

According to what I have gathered from my colleagues, there is a possibility that due to the contract between your company and the property, certain rooms have been pre-allocated for representatives of this company, thus those rooms will only be available to them when they apply the SET code to their reservation.

apguest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Aaaahhh - that makes sense. It is so great to have a Lurker or two (or three if you count SanDiego1K's breadth of knowledge) around to answer all our questions. Thanks for letting me know everyone! :)

I have the same experience for Westins....not for other Starwood brands. I looked to make a reservation a few days ago, there were only four room type options available, and no suites. I put in the SET code and received 23 room types...and several suite options!..I was very pleased! For LM Montparnasse the week before last, 20 options were available without my SET code; with it, the number dwindled to 4!

I tried it out with more properties for trips across the summer, and more or less, I did consistently well with Westins, and poorly with most others, except Sheraton (but I wouldn't stay at one out of choice).