It doesn't matter when I make the reservations, right? Providing the nights are from Jan 7th on? I have already made a couple of reservations on the 10th etc., so wanted to make sure these count.
Programs: Starwood Preferred Guest/B. W. Gold Crown Club; American Airlines AAdvantage/Continental OnePass
Posts: 18,239
Quote:
Originally Posted by oc1
It doesn't matter when I make the reservations, right? Providing the nights are from Jan 7th on? I have already made a couple of reservations on the 10th etc., so wanted to make sure these count.
It does not matter when these reservations are made as long as the nights fall within the promotion period and the stay is credited to your SPG account as being eligible.
This promotion is also retroactive as far as enrollment is concerned, so you could conceivably register anytime before Midnight U. S. Eastern time on March 31, 2009 and be credited for any nights that fall within the promotion period.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Programs: CO Plat, Starwood Plat, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, CO World Plus, Hertz #1 Gold
Posts: 760
While I agree that double stay credits is a nice way to start the year, and the Le Meridien promo was a great one a year ago, I'll be glad not to hotel hop for the ease of living and for not having to endure the looks from friends & associates when I'm doing the hopping.
Programs: AA plat, SPG gold, HH GoldLite, Hyatt Diamond, Miracle Fruit-su club
Posts: 786
William -
Should we assume that the SPG promo gods found something that made them prefer promotions 3 times a year rather than 4, and should we expect 3 a year from now on? Being a not-as-frequent traveller, I appreciate this.
And of critical importance, should we insist that the mods change the name of this thread from Q1 to, um, Triennial 1 minus the first seven days?
Programs: Starwood Preferred Guest/B. W. Gold Crown Club; American Airlines AAdvantage/Continental OnePass
Posts: 18,239
Quote:
Originally Posted by jumpdogjump
William -
Should we assume that the SPG promo gods found something that made them prefer promotions 3 times a year rather than 4, and should we expect 3 a year from now on? Being a not-as-frequent traveller, I appreciate this.
Understand that this is me speaking and not Starwood or SPG, but if you want my personal observations, then here they are: With the economy in the shape it is currently (and has been for some time), I would not make any assumptions regarding the frequency of SPG promotions or size/generosity thereof past April 30, 2009. Every department/subsidy of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide works on a budget and when that budget is exhausted, the carrot dries up. I understand that it is expected for Starwood/SPG to run promotions non-stop and on a so wildly expensive basis as to literally force you into a hotel bed, but at some point along the way, one reaches a point where there are diminishing returns on that kind of investment.
Quote:
And of critical importance, should we insist that the mods change the name of this thread from Q1 to, um, Triennial 1 minus the first seven days?
I don't have a horse in this race. Petition the moderators to call it what you want.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Programs: UA 1K/MM; SPG Platinum; MHC Lifetime; Tarheel forever!
Posts: 7,436
Any extra points are nice, and at least this time, I will earn some benefits!
I'm guessing they are not counting stays during the first weekend of Jan, since many of those may be "holiday" spill-overs , but my stays already booked during that time are work-related.
__________________
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line....but that won't get me the points and segments I want!
Look at the promo that Hyatt is offering...looks pretty similar except it starts two days later.
From Hyatt: "More Than a Bonus"
Between January 9 and April 30, 2009, members of Hyatt's Gold Passport program will be able to earn up to 20,000 Hyatt Gold Passport bonus points or miles at any of more than 365 Hyatt hotels and resorts in 45 countries.
Bonus points are awarded as follows:
~ Stay two nights and earn 2,000 bonus points/miles
~ Stay four nights and earn an additional 4,000 bonus points/miles (totaling 6,000 bonus points)
~ Stay six nights and earn an additional 6,000 bonus points/miles (totaling 12,000 bonus points)
~ Stay eight nights and earn an additional 8,000 bonus points/miles (totaling 20,000 bonus points)
Registration is required, but won't be possible until closer to the promotion's start date.
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As for the expectation that endless promotions are offered...well those expectations were set over the last few years by SPG. First quarter last year for instance offered:
1,000 extra per stay
1,000/2,000/3,000 extra per stay at most North American properties
stay 7 times get 4 free nights at any Le Meridien
500 extra points per W Hotel booking
This at a time when people had money to shell out to pay for expensive hotel rooms. A simple way not to have to pay for millions of bonus starpoints is to roll back some of the category creep. With hotel prices going down, this is the simple solution. Less money needed on promos. The extra 500 points earned per night ends up being more valuable towards an award and everybody is happy
One would think that with the economy the way it is, any and all attemps to get customers would be on the table. Everybody is offering sales + discounts to keep/gain customers so I don't see why starwood or any hotel chain for that matter would be different.
In my case if I don't get 2x stays I will simply use the points I get via the 2mastercards on a few days of "free" stays. I'm planning on taking 4 weeks of vacation in '09 so starwood had better work at keeping me in their hotels or else I'll be finding other options.
Programs: MR Plt, SPG Plt, HH GLD, US SLV, AA Gold,
Posts: 5,918
Quote:
Originally Posted by craz
I dont see the promo as anything to get worked up about. An extra 10k for 10 nights is worthless to me. Every yr till now had a much better offer, that resulted in more Pts or stay credit.
If you assign 0 value to points, Ill be glad to take them.
I too wonder about the 1/7 date - it seems odd.
But MR doesn't start until Feb. 1, so all my Jan stays will be at SPG. Double credits would have been nice to work on renewal. Maybe I will have to hop to get the stay credits anyway.
As someone who tends to stay 4-6 nights per trip I like the per night bonus.
End of year note:
I was longtime Marriott person who switched to Starwood in 2007 based on company policy. 2008 was my first full year as a platinum member and I have been very happy with all my stays (Sheraton, S.Suites, W, Westin, Le Meridian) The points are nice, but I've really appreciated the wonderful level of service.
Starwood Lurker - if you pass these things along, kudos to all at Starwood. I look forward to my Starwood visits in 2009.
Programs: Platinum Marriott/Starwood; Diamond Hyatt/Hilton; Exec Plat AA; 1K United
Posts: 312
Wow. Marriott just announced their 50K (targeted) Q1 promo for 25 nights.
with this SPG promo, and marriotts (thankfully hilton isn't running one) and the economy being what it is; for the first time I'm looking at not completing every promo I enter.
Its an interesting thing that William posted about corporate budgets. When marketing stops (and I consider SPG promo's basic marketing to drive behavior) companies are really in a bad way.
Q4 08 was 25,000 points for 10 stays, Q1 09 is 10,000 points for 10 nights. So, no hotel hopping, that is nice, but 10 instead of 25?
Then they make it a FOUR month crappy promo instead of three, and start it on January 7th to avoid the minimal bonus for all of us traveling for the holidays.
Someone was thinking about SPG and not about the SPG customer when they dreamed this one up, I am sorry to say.
