mia

Platinum Concierge: No other program offers such highly personalized service as our Platinum Concierge(SM). Call to make reservations and request upgrades, redeem awards, book opera tickets and baby sitters, or get information on local restaurants and sights.

Why "make reservations" or "redeem awards" by telephone rather than on the spg.com? Why "get information..." from Starwood rather than, say, Google?

Most of the anecdotes I read on Flyertalk suggest that the primary use of Platinum Concierge is to intercede with hotel management when upgrades or other benefits are not forthcoming. This sounds more like the Platinum Ombudsman than a concierge.

What does Platinum Concierge add to SPG Platinum status that I am overlooking?

EWR ATC Hold

You're probably right in the long run--you can do your own research, book online, etc. and not need the concierge. But, I can tell you from experience, they can be very helpful. Case in point, for my honeymoon, my wife and I planned to go to Tahiti (Moorea & Bora Bora) using a combination of paid stays and points. The concierge worked with me to identify the best combinations of points/paid stays and worked with the hotels to ensure they knew we were platinum guests on our honeymoon. He even worked behind the scenes after we booked everything to make sure that we got the best deal, calling me back a few days later letting me know that a better offer had opened up on one of the hotels. Again, could I have done all that by myself? Probably, but it was a lot easier to just make the one phone call. Granted he only checked SPG hotels, but that was my plan anyway--I wasn't interested in the other properties.

To your point though, I've found them most useful in resolving problems at hotels.

BFG

I've called them when I didn't have access to a computer or the internet to book hotels or get questions answered.

On one of the trips where I was upgraded in advance to a Jr Suite. I needed two beds on this trip so I called for a room discription. Since it only had one bed they contacted the hotel for me and had the room type switched.

On another call I wanted to see how close I was to qualifying for a promo since I wasn't sure if all or how many of my stays qualified. I got the answer I needed quickly and was able to complete quailfying. During this same call the concierge went over my profile. I was advised of another promo that I had overlooked registering for :-)

I find them extrememly friendly, knowledgable and willing to help.

FreeTravel

I booked two nights in a hotel last year which was in a lower category, and later I only need one night so I called them; they changed to one night with the old category and refund the other night back to the account. If I do it myself I would have to cancel the whole thing and rebook with the higher category.

itsaboutthejourney

Outside of company booked: I try not to bother the PC, preferring to get info online so I can multitask.

However, the PC is who to call for more complex and important stays. They have access to way more info than spg.bomb and of course can help search spg50, cash & points, point upgrades and other things you can't do online with SPG. While I've always found the PC staff to be very very nice to deal with, lately I have noticed some subtle pressure to book more expensive rates encouraging me to go deluxe or club rooms. They also (and rightly) encourage booking then and now offering that I can always cancel. I wonder if they are on commission?

mia

I don't want to be right . I want to learn how to better utilize the status, and the early replies have given me some worthwhile ideas. Thank you.

andreww404

I love calling the concierge and reaching a small enough population that they remember me!

Makes all the difference when they remember what type of room you like, etc.

Braindrain

Case Study #1 - Making reservations

I was trying to book some reward rooms at the Westin Grand Berlin over the internet but couldn't do so. The reservation system showed rooms available. Called up Plat Concierge and they called the Westin Berlin while I was on the telephone and forced my reward reservation.

I later find out my booking was the exact same time as the Berlin Marathon and they were turning people away!

troyintn

SPG seems to be smaller and work harder for me then the hilton DD. The one thing I do like about SPG is they ask if I have a rep and then send me thier contact info, versus hilton where they do what you ask, but do not go the extra mile.

CPRich

Last week - canceled an award I couldn't see on-line, and arranged a folio to be faxed to me from a recent stay. I don't call very often.

GuysInCT

Tried to book C&P in Phoenix for March, web showed not available. Called concierge, and he was able to get me the reservation. That's a nice service!

psyflyer

nothing for me.

MikeBOS

I was Gold for a long time before getting Platinum status a little more than a year ago, and I have seen absolutely no difference in the phone service. This is not a bad thing because even the Gold service was excellent; I almost always get a highly competent agent, and when things go wrong, Starwood, more than most other travel providers I deal with, generally makes them right. From my experience, there is little or no incremental value in Platinum Concierge relative to Gold service.

Slightly OT, but I would make the same comment about Platinum status overall. Relative to the difference between top-tier and mid-tier on most airlines (e.g EXP vs. PLT on AA, 1K vs. Premier Exec on United), the incremental benefits for top tier are much much lower in SPG (and for that matter all the hotel chains). For me, there just hasn't been much of a difference in the overall experience as Platinum vs. Gold, in almost any respect.

RAPC

From my end, my interaction with the Plat line has been limited as I only qualified a couple of weeks ago.

First call was to update some reservations for trip to Spain starting a couple of days after my status changed. The agent emailed the hotels to ensure they knew I had changed to Platinum. Got two very nice upgrades as a result, although the other hotel hadn't taken note of the email. (Not the fault of the concierge though)

Second call was to get the details on making an award reservation with some free nights earned on the 'stay 3 times, get a free weekend night' promo. The system was running a little slow and the concierge was unfamiliar with the promo. All was sorted very professionally after a bit of effort from the agent.

So far so good in my opinion. I'm especially looking forward to making use of the concierge service when I have to make reservations (1 x paid room, 1 x award room) for a two week trip to China next year across 4 or 5 hotels as I know I'll have a few questions at the time.

DownUnderFlyer

I think many people here will disagree with you. I will become a Platinum in 3 weeks and then see. But at SPG many benefits only happen as a Platinum like lounge access, suits upgrades, SPG50 vouchers and Platinum amenity.
I think it is the other programs which have a lot less benefits between their medium and top tear.