diver858

I have earned Hilton Diamond status for several years, based on the number of stays (30 per calendar year) - including award stays. An immediate family member now works for SPG, providing access to the employee rate - typically 50% off prevailing rate. I am self-employed, charge about 1/3 of business stays to clients, have premium Hilton credit cards for both personal and business use.

Despite the continued downgrade of Hhonors Diamond benefits, free breakfast is an important one, particularly for leisure and award stays, along with the occasional upgrade. Starwoods seems to have a reasonable footprint for my typical travel pattern, so availability does not appear to be a concern.

While not yet confirmed, my family member believes that no points are earned when using the employee rate, doubtful if such stays count toward status.

For those familiar with both programs - will the savings in hotel stays justify making a switch from Hilton to SPG? I would get the Starwood AMEX card, likely the business card, but not spend the $30k for Gold

clublounger

The first section of the STARHOT T&C's :

"StarHOT provides for discounted rooms at participating hotels for Starwood associates and associates of participating Starwood franchise hotels. This program is for nonbusiness, leisure travel only."

......

"Family Discounted Room Rates: Discounted room rates will be made available to immediate family members of eligible associates. Immediate family consists of a spouse, domestic partner*, children, siblings, parents and parents-in-laws. Family members receive the same benefit, whether or not they accompany the associate. Any associate who misrepresents the eligibility of an individual to obtain a discount, to which that individual is not otherwise entitled, is subject to discipline, up to and including termination of employment."


As a favor to your immediate family member, you shouldn't discuss publicly if your intention is to use the rate for business purposes.

Bozzie4

i can tell you that the STARfriend rate was worth it 9/10 times--the STARhot rate... well, you can buy a heck of a lot of breakfasts with the money saved

lcpteck

That is correct, it's considered a non-eligible rate for earning status/points. But you do save money though.

quinella66

In addition to this being for leisure and not earning points, it is not available for all hotels all of the time. You can't reliably use it anytime, and availability tends to be in low season.

MSPeconomist

Still for those who are entitled to use these rates, being able to get a room in a good hotel for not much more than the cost of housekeeping is a great opportunity.

BTW, airline nonrev and buddy pass rules typically also specify that these privileges are for leisure travel only and cannot be used for business.