Dec 31, 2014, 10:04 am
Discussion: 10 Suite Night Awards (SNAs) for Plats with 50 nights in calendar year
Feb 3, 2012, 11:14 am
#196
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Maybe it's true on average, but SPG has also now created an incentive for people to tack on cheap nights and to avoid the more expensive properties where the chances of a meaningful upgrade have been diminished. It could become a self fulfilling prophecy: treat an elite in a way that says the person is no longer valuable to you and guess what, there is a good chance the elite will respond in a way that makes them less valuable to you in the future. Incentives cut both ways, particularly when they take the form of suddenly punishing some people ex post in an ither/or rather than graduated way for failing to meet standards that were never announced or communicated to them.
Feb 3, 2012, 11:22 am
#197
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Absolutely spot on!
This year I probably would have easily hit the 50 night total now that my annual redemption trip (typically a ski trip) will qualify as nights.
However I am shifting my normal behaviour of choosing a property and then deciding which room type would be the lowest I would be happy with which depending on the stay may be a regular room, a junior suite or suite or villa. Instead I will only choose properties where I would be moderately happy in the base room. Where I would not be happy in a base room I won't book a Starwood property. I will look for opportunities to maximise night credit at the minimal possible price. I will also think more about Cat 1 redemptions to pad out my night total.
I then intend to reset my Starwood relationship in 2013 and behave more normally. The suite night awards will probably save me quite a bit of money compared to my 2011 spend, so it is worth speculating a small amount on increasing my stays in 2012 by padding out cheap nights at the beginning and end of a trip, to deliver the sort of saving I think could be realised from hitting 50 nights.
This will lead to a significant cut in my overall spend with Starwood in 2012 even though I will stay a few more nights than I did in 2011. If my hunch pays off it will also lead to permanently lower annual spend with Starwood, so I guess I should join those welcoming the changes
This year I probably would have easily hit the 50 night total now that my annual redemption trip (typically a ski trip) will qualify as nights.
However I am shifting my normal behaviour of choosing a property and then deciding which room type would be the lowest I would be happy with which depending on the stay may be a regular room, a junior suite or suite or villa. Instead I will only choose properties where I would be moderately happy in the base room. Where I would not be happy in a base room I won't book a Starwood property. I will look for opportunities to maximise night credit at the minimal possible price. I will also think more about Cat 1 redemptions to pad out my night total.
I then intend to reset my Starwood relationship in 2013 and behave more normally. The suite night awards will probably save me quite a bit of money compared to my 2011 spend, so it is worth speculating a small amount on increasing my stays in 2012 by padding out cheap nights at the beginning and end of a trip, to deliver the sort of saving I think could be realised from hitting 50 nights.
This will lead to a significant cut in my overall spend with Starwood in 2012 even though I will stay a few more nights than I did in 2011. If my hunch pays off it will also lead to permanently lower annual spend with Starwood, so I guess I should join those welcoming the changes
Overall I had been extremely happy with SPG until a few days ago but I am extremely unhappy with the timing of these changes (particularly the zero sum upgrades into select standard suites) and especially the way they have been implemented. If something had been announced well before the end of 2011 or if the suite nights were graduated/proportional for this year only, I'm sure I would feel very differently about SPG now and probably would be very enthusiastic about the changes.
Feb 3, 2012, 11:26 am
#198
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I suspect that they have been taking account of this in some form, but now it is overwhelmed by the new four tier system. Now these factors will affect rankings within the tiers, but the overriding criterion will be the number of nights. A PlatMinus is a PlatMinus is a PlatMinus.
Feb 3, 2012, 12:02 pm
#199
Join Date: Jun 2011
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The sad thing about all of this is that it shouldn't be this hard...
To recognize our loyal customers who are Platinum but had under 50 nights in 2011, every 5 nights stayed equals 1 suite night. Starting in 2012, to earn this benefit, you must stay over 50 nights.
Am I missing something here?
Feb 3, 2012, 12:10 pm
#200
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Exactly! The way this whole thing was handled is what makes me mad. The loyalty program should allow the member to make the decision on if a certain perk is important or not.
The sad thing about all of this is that it shouldn't be this hard...
To recognize our loyal customers who are Platinum but had under 50 nights in 2011, every 5 nights stayed equals 1 suite night. Starting in 2012, to earn this benefit, you must stay over 50 nights.
Am I missing something here?
The sad thing about all of this is that it shouldn't be this hard...
To recognize our loyal customers who are Platinum but had under 50 nights in 2011, every 5 nights stayed equals 1 suite night. Starting in 2012, to earn this benefit, you must stay over 50 nights.
Am I missing something here?
Feb 3, 2012, 12:37 pm
#201
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I think the ambassador and additional points/round the clock room benefits are fine, I question nights as the entry criteria but I care much less about those "enhancements" than I do the suite nights awards because they do not significantly dent the value of regular Plat.
Feb 3, 2012, 12:44 pm
#202
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I think the ambassador and additional points/round the clock room benefits are fine, I question nights as the entry criteria but I care much less about those "enhancements" than I do the suite nights awards because they do not significantly dent the value of regular Plat.
I'm also concerned about the source of the supply of new Ambassador agents. When AmEx PTS introduced Centurion, it seemed like all of the best agents went into training nd then worked with the new program, so that customer service was generally abysmal for everyone else for at least several years. One can even argue that their customer service level has never recovered.
Feb 3, 2012, 1:07 pm
#203
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I read this thread, and, somehow, the word "entitlement" keeps running through my mind....
Feb 3, 2012, 1:48 pm
#204
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I'm also concerned about the source of the supply of new Ambassador agents. When AmEx PTS introduced Centurion, it seemed like all of the best agents went into training nd then worked with the new program, so that customer service was generally abysmal for everyone else for at least several years. One can even argue that their customer service level has never recovered.
Feb 3, 2012, 2:14 pm
#205
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Feb 3, 2012, 2:43 pm
#206
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Feb 3, 2012, 2:47 pm
#207
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Indeed. I do see the repetition too! But probably on the other side. 
Feb 3, 2012, 3:05 pm
#208
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Feb 3, 2012, 3:15 pm
#209
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Feb 3, 2012, 3:21 pm
#210
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I called the Platinum desk (Ireland number) a couple of days ago to double check my nights in 2011.
The agent barely spoke any English and started looking through my account counted the nights manualy (in French...un, deux, trois ... ). After going through the account for several minutes she placed me on hold for another 15 minutes until I gave up.
Surely there is a nights / stay counter in the system somewhere and they don't have to add up the stays manually ?
Serves me right (again my fault) for calling the Ireland number (+353) instead of dialing the US 1-800 number.
The agent barely spoke any English and started looking through my account counted the nights manualy (in French...un, deux, trois ... ). After going through the account for several minutes she placed me on hold for another 15 minutes until I gave up.
Surely there is a nights / stay counter in the system somewhere and they don't have to add up the stays manually ?
Serves me right (again my fault) for calling the Ireland number (+353) instead of dialing the US 1-800 number.