William, your postings are normally very helpful and well thought out, but your reply above is falling well short of your usual standards. What a load of baloney it is!

"...this promotion was designed to make the bonus offer proportionate to the individual member's opportunities for travel..." So my opportunity to travel is greater than some other people's is it? I really don't see how Starwood can presume to know what my circumstances will be for 2001. Looking at last year's stays is going to be a poor indicator indeed.

The plain fact is that you're using fancy language to say that Starwood wants to treat its members differently: Under this promotion, if I have 20 stays, I get 10,000 points. Some other people can have the same 20 stays, pay the same rate and get 20,000 points. That's just not right in my book.

I know this is the real and nasty world of commerce and all that, and people ARE discriminated against in business, but I don't have to like it. Just because everyone else does it, does not make it right. And it's completely at odds with the consumer-centred friendly approach that I'd come to expect from SPG.

Hey, here's an idea. When people call hotel reservations and request a room rate, instead of giving the rates currently available in the system, add an extra 5% on to the quoted rate for each stay the guest had with Starwood last year. Your marketing guys should love that one.

"A member services representative will be glad to review your account history to determine which bonus is most appropriate." Ermm....no need. I can tell you which bonus is most "appropriate". It's the one that gets members the most points!