missxmelon

Eh, I'd rather have something other than more SNAs. I already have more than enough (a few always expire for me). I know YMMV with SNAs, which is why a guaranteed / confirmed suite upgrade (upon booking, not a few days out) would be a lot more value.

margarita girl

I think 75 nights is worth it for the YOUR24 benefit (which I have successfully used many times) but would not in a million years be interested in an ambassador. For a while I had a Plat Concierge who used to email me and ask if he could do anything for me. I never used him. Would rather call Plat line and speak to first available Concierge or the online chat if I need anything. And as others said, I'd rather make reservations etc myself.

fmcfad01

What have you used your Ambassador for that's been 'Amazing?'
I'm not sure I care about more SNAs. I'd love 5 or 6x points for hitting 100 though!

ckccan

My ambassador actually did more harm than good when I used her a couple of times.

Never really capitalized on the YOUR24

missxmelon

I haven't "used" her for anything amazing, but she herself is an amazing person. Proactive / takes the initiative, observant, exceeds expectations when I do ask her to do something (like not only resolve an issue at a hotel, but also get goodwill points for me), and always arranges for a nice snack / welcome gift when I go on vacation with my SO.

mahasamatman

Or keep the same number and increase the pre-clearance.

Plat 50 - 5 days
Plat 75 - 7 days
Plat 100 - 10 days

christianj

Pre-clearance or guaranteed at booking! I would vote for that as well! I'm at 99 nights so I'm going to go for the one additional night to see if the ambassador does me any good for the first time.

Cathay Boy

Plat - 50 (same)
Plat - 75 (10 days advance clearance)
Plat - 100 (suite guaranteed or if sold out $100 hotel voucher)

Sphinx

That's a good formula. At the moment, I find that if I am investing in 100 hotel nights, the best value would come from allocating 50 to SPG and 50 to Hyatt, since the latter's guaranteed suite vouchers are a great option for family vacations. If I were to invest in only 75 nights, then I feel the best value would be 50 for SPG and 25 to Hilton, as Hilton Gold gives great perks for a mid-level loyalty tier. Unfortunately, the perks of SPG75 and SPG100 will not be able to compete with these alternative allocations until they are beefed up considerably.

Cathay Boy

I completely agree with you. Right now I have zero motivation to go beyond 50 nights with SPG. Yours24 does nothing for me since SPG properties are very flexible to let me check-in early (11 a.m. as opposed to 3 p.m.) and late check-out (4 p.m.) The extra point also doesn't really entice me enough to spend extra 25-50 nights with them.

If Starwoods wants to make sure they keep people with them beyond 50, they really need to spice up their offers.

I am like most of you, 50 SPG, 25 Hilton

mahasamatman

The only way guaranteed upgrades would ever see the light of day is if they reduce the number of SNAs to be more like what Hyatt offers.

HHonors OUTSIDER

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.4.2; en-us; LGL31L/V100 Build/KOT49I.L31L10d) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Chrome/30.0.1599.103 Mobile Safari/537.36)

Isn't 4 confirmed 7 night upgrade certs from Hyatt more than 10 one night sna's from SPG?

mahasamatman

First, that's only if you have four seven-night stays per year. I know I'm not typical (who on FT is?), but since I started keeping records, and with the exception of an annual conference, I only have four stays longer than three nights, and none longer than five. And second, with Hyatt (as far as I know - correct me if I'm wrong), you get those four confirmed and no other upgrades. I prefer the current Platinum upgrade program.

platbrownguy

I would heartily make it to SPG 75 if the guaranteed upgrades were the same as Hyatt's. I find that the one-night stays tend to have the highest upgrade success (and, save occasional special-event weekends, the lowest benefit to me from getting an upgrade -- I'm probably just working and sleeping), while being able to guarantee an upgrade at booking for a longer leisure trip would truly be a useful benefit.

When I was Hyatt Diamond, all of my upgrades were of the "absurd" variety (one presidential suite at a Regency, three giant apartment-like suites at Park Hyatts in Beijing, DC, and Zurich). The best part, of course, is that none of this is on the lottery system as with Starwood: you call up, the agent calls the property and secures the upgrade (informing you of the available room), and you can plan accordingly. If only there were more Hyatt properties, I'd be a Hyatt Diamond in a heartbeat.

druid

I have had an ambassador for a couple years and she really tries, but 99% of the time it's easier to just talk to the property directly.