Originally Posted by GUWonder
Sometime the elite perk of interest is the bonus points that post (and not any of the in-hotel benefits).
His mention of SPG pre-paid stays not earning points indicated to me that he was not booking his stays at a Starwood website or that something was messed up in the process; so his mention of that may or may not contradict his mention of booking pre-paid stays at Hilton (even though he explicitly mentioned hilton.com).
A little clarification - I'm referring to booking online at spg.com, hilton.com, or marriott.com. I recently stayed at a Westin for $169 vs. $199 for a refundable stay. The website said "no refunds, changes, cancellations - credit card charged at booking". It did not say "no spg benefits". Upon check-in I learned I wasn't eligible for an upgrade and I did not earn Starpoints. Before switching my business to another chain I wanted to make sure this wasn't the case at Hilton.