Originally Posted by
buylowsellhigh
I suppose you can also check into a cash and points 1600pts $30 hotel for a month
and just leave... checking in 25 times is just annoying as all hell haha.
But I would then wonder how much of a "return" one would get.... Lets see.... At 30 'legitimate' nights a year:
10 suite night upgrades x $50 = $500
Breakfast for 2 x $15 x 30 = $900
Plat Upgrade 20% of the time (6 x $50) = $300
Total = $1700
In another words, barely breaking even at the values placed on the certain plat benefits.
On another subject, they should seriously consider a new tier for cardholders whose spend exceeds say, $250k a yr. I don't really think this would "water down" the exlusivity of being a platinum.
Look at how high the discount rate to take Amex cards, I'm paying 2.9% each time a customer swipes a card at my place of business... so high that I tell customers that no amex is accepted until they insist or say "its my only card"
1/ Checking in to a hotel for a month gets you Gold, not Plat. It's 1 stay.
2/ suite upgrades worth $50? I guess it's what they may be worth to you. To me they are worth $150-$300 per night, which I used to, and sometimes still do, pay, if I think I can't get an upgrade.
3/ Breakfast $15? Again, depends on where you are. Even in Asia, a good hotel breakfast is $25. In Europe, more like $40.
4/ I don't understand why SPG should have a level for those who spend money on another company's credit card. How does SPG benefit from this, unless it's an SPG card, which is only available in 3 countries, and as it's a credit card, most couldn't get a credit limit to spend 250k in the US. Our card spend doesn't give us status, but it gives us enough points to never pay for a flight or even a Starwood hotel, which, since October 11, does, in fact, get you to plat status.
5/ How about free internet and club access?
Plat is worth at least $10000 a year, to me, based on previous spend/return and I would do a couple of extra nights if I wasn't otherwise going to make it, but I still can't fathom why someone who doesn't stay at Starwood hotels would want this status, other than as a badge of achievement, or for a single big trip in Asia or Europe, but then I guess they wouldn't deserve it, as they aren't regular guests.