uoficowboy

Hi - I'm fairly new to the SPG program. I'm going to be earning a lot of points over the next month though, so I need to start getting familiar with how to use them!

I need to book a hotel in Portland on the day after Christmas. I see that there are various hotels there available for 3-10K points. I have no idea if that's a good deal or not.

My question is this: I don't have enough points right now - but by mid December I'll have plenty. Should I expect these rates to still be the same, or do those rates reflect availability? (ie they go up as the hotel fills up)

Also, should I expect points to post fairly immediately after my stays?

Sorry for the simple questions!

justspg

redemption levels stay the same throughout the year regardless of occupancy (as long as a standard room is available, you can book a room with points).. they may go up or down the following year based on starwood and the hotel's average daily rate. Starwood determines the redemption category so next year the redemption categories for hotels may go up, go down or stay the same. SPG also has the cash and points option but those can be harder to find than all points stays.

uoficowboy

Interesting! Not the answer I expected!

So is there any reason to book really far in advance? From what you're saying it kinda sounds like there isn't.

justspg

Depends on how far in advance. I would suggest calling spg to see how far in advance you can book an award stay at the current redemption levels. It's hard to say because spg will most likely look at the ADR (average daily rate) and do redemption adjustments. I am not sure when they discuss and implement any adjustments so I would suggest calling SPG to get further information.

MSPeconomist

You can lose out if the hotel sells, really meaning gets reservations, for all of their standard category rooms before you book your stay. At some hotels, you can book a more expensive room category for more points, but this might not be available or might not be a very good deal.

However, I have been told that even though you pay the same number of points for an award stay in a standard room, whether the hotel is empty or full, the price in money that the hotel then receives does depend on how full it actually is at the time of your stay. Operationally, this means that if the hotel is more than X% occupied during a night you stay on points, the hotel gets more money from SPG, where I believe someone said that the threshold was 90%, but I am less confident about the numbers than the general rule and procedure.

Cash and points is usually regarded as a very good deal, but this availability does depend very much on how full the hotel appears to be at the time of your request. IIRC some hotels choose to never off cash and points.

You can usually cancel award stays without penalty unless it is a resort property or very close to your arrival time, so it might be worthwhile to make the award booking now and cancel or change it later if necessary. If you think you might want to change or cancel only part of your award stay, you might want to consider making separate reservations and asking the hotel to let you keep the same room throughout your stay.

dmgt

Op indicates he has not got the points yet but will by mid December. I always suggest booking when you know you want a room and have the points. Watch the cancellation policy. Also if booking a year in advance I watch redemption levels. If rate drops I rebook. If goes up I am protected at the old rate. Have a month of bookings for next June. Will see if some drop.

MSPeconomist

If the OP has some but not all points, he might try to lock in cash and points reservations, even using a separate reservation for each night, and then try to switch them to all points later when he has the points and knows better what he wants to do.

ADDED. For Portland, The Nines would be magical around Christmas, but it will be expensive. The aloft is close to the airport and has a free shuttle, but it's also on the light rail line which makes it very convenient. It also has free parking. the aloft is nice and new but likely to be cheap. The is also a Sheraton at the airport which seems to get mixed reviews. It is not right at the terminal and would probably require use of the free shuttle to get to the light rail station in the terminal. IIRC the airport roadway is not at all pedestrian friendly even though the distance isn't huge.