Starwood Lurker IV

Next month we begin our third year of partnership with Uber and we will be changing how members earn Starpoints for their rides.

Beginning February 1, 2017, SPG members will earn Starpoints in the following ways after they link their accounts and have one qualified stay:

• While staying at a SPG Hotel: Members will earn two Starpoints per US$1 spent with Uber (versus two, three or four Starpoints per US$1, depending on member tier).
• When not in-stay, members will earn one Starpoint per US$2 spent with Uber (versus one Starpoint per US$1).

If you haven’t already linked your accounts, be sure to do so at spg.com/uber. This is still an easy way to boost your Starpoints balance through your everyday activities.

We also wanted to give you a sneak peek into a promotion we will offer throughout February. Members will earn five total Starpoints per US$1 spent with Uber while staying at a SPG hotel. You will earn automatically if your accounts are linked. Additional registration is not required.

username

Just got the e-mail. I guess the program has been "enhanced", especially for Platinum and above

ajeleonard

Thumbs down

GUWonder

With whom does Lyft partner beside JetBlue? When the Starwood-Uber partnership is devalued for consumers, consumers should again consider what alternatives there are to pursue as a response to a degraded service/value proposition.

mymilesandpoints

Just got the email too. This is "SAD."

seawolf

I appreciate they were honest about it instead of trying to spin it as an enhancement.

username

I am not a high-volume Uber user (basically to/from airport each week and about $10 each way) so it is not a huge loss.

Note that one can buy Uber gift cards on UA's MileagePlus X for 1 mile/$. So, that helps a little.

ftrichard

Just got my email. I've accrued about 3000 SPG points from Uber journeys over the last couple of years. Enough for one free night at a Four Points. For free.

So, I'll be quicker to take Grab now as the SPG points become more meaningless.

helvetic

What a disappointing change. SPG is slashing Uber earn rates in half.

The Marriott merger is already starting to deteriorate the program… first, the lousy Double Take Q1 promotion, then killing the Caesars' partnership without notice, now this…

sfozrhfco

Easy to blame everything on a merger but only the Double Take promo was intiated by Marriott. Ceasars was in a death spiral when the deal was signed with SPG and the deal expired. Ceasars is in better shape now, so no need for them to renew. Uber also has to start making money at some point and they are well known now. It makes sense that they would want to cut back on their purchase of SPG points if they feel they can.

jmanirish

Wow this sucks. At 4 points per $, this was a program that actually changed my behavior. Between to/from the airport on both ends, plus cars to/from meetings (often pretty far), it was a meaningful amount of star points for me (often 1,000+ points each trip)

50% devaluation means I'll be looking elsewhere for both stays and car service.

teeceedee

This is a devaluation, yes, but I'm not going to sweat it terribly. Merger-wise I feel they've handled it well so far with the introduction of benefits and solid point-transferral rate. If we were going to hit with a devaluation, this one isn't a *terrible* one.

Won't really impact my stays - I don't think Lyft or any other rideshare apps offer anything similar, anyways

seawolf

For me, earning SPG points was really icing. It wasn't really an huge amount to affect behaviour. Uber has wider coverage than Lyft. And definitely not going back to taxis.

I don't see Uber partnership with SPG really affecting one making a decision to stay at SPG as opposed to other chains. I would imagine the chain's frequent guest program would have a larger effect than Uber partnership.

damon88

I agree- the points have been icing. I use Uber a lot and this won't change my behavior.

And I'm glad they didn't try to spin this a la WOH as "an exciting new benefit!"

synergistic

Le sigh. I didn't earn a lot of extra points this way, but I liked getting them anyhow.