I may get flamed for this, but (and I'm sure others have said it before), I cannot believe that a stay at a $60 per night property gets the same contribution to status as a stay at a $400+ per night property.

As someone who regularly stays in more expensive properties (St Regis, W and some Sheraton properties), this really bugs me. I have no doubt that I spend a hell of a lot more money on SPG properties than many platinums, particularly those in the US.

Points are managed that way - i.e per dollar spent, why not status?

If Starwood can differentiate between different grades of hotel for points redemption, why can't they do the same for status. For example, a cat 1 property night could be a 0.5 status stay through to a cat 6 being a 2x status multiple.

I know that the stay requirement for platinum simply means that I will not achieve it (many of my destinations do not have SPG properties, or they are not in the right price bracket), so once I have my gold, I look to hyatt or hilton. To my mind, that's revenue for premium properties that Starwood simply misses out on.

I have no problem with fostering loyalty, but SPG should also have a mechanism for assessing total $ contribution and not simply nights.

I'm sure I'm not alone in having this view.