I just tried to redeem these for the Westin Madrid. The agent redeemed December 29-January 1 (3 nights), but when I looked at my account an hour later I noticed 12,000 starpoints missing. I was informed by a second agent that the night of December 31 was a blackout date. Huh? There is nothing in the T&Cs that I can see about blackout dates. It says stays must be "consumed" by Dec 31, but the agent confirmed that meant check in.

Can anyone clarify? I will try to call again in the morning to try and apply the certificate vs. using the starpoints.