You should also make sure to get the stay credit. I had a chat with one of the front-desk agents at the 4 Points SFO once about walking. She said that they do it in this order:

- 3rd party bookings (Expedia, Priceline etc.)
- SPG regular members
- SPG Gold
- SPG Plat.

... so they basically never walk a Gold or Plat member.