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Old Aug 25, 2007, 4:30 pm
  #5  
Snow Goose
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC*SE, AA Plat, SPG Plat, HH Diamond, PC Plat Ambassador, Hyatt Diamond, Fairmont Plat
Posts: 1,179
Originally Posted by pbiflyer
Mine has changed. We are planning a stay in Europe. Points are outrageous. In Rome, we are staying at the Roma Sheraton, outside the main city for 7k instead of inside the city at 16-25k. Also, doing one night of points & cash. Would do all of them that way if it were available.
In Paris, we are paying at another chain, rather than burn the 16k points.

Also, this year, I will only reach gold, after 4 or 5 years of plat, as most of my stays are with another chain. It seems like I can gain useful points faster with other chains now. That was not the case before.
Funny you should mention Europe, since my view is that European Starwoods are some of the best value for point redemptions you can buy these days. With the current strength of the Euro, offsetting a $625 Euro rate with a 25k starpoint redemption is a good deal IMHO.

I have found that Starwood has been running nearly continuous promotions for the past 16 months, so I haven't really noticed the category changes except for at a few properties that are no longer practical (Westin Sunset Key, for example, at 60 to 70k per night). When/if the promotions slow down and I am no longer earning 2-3k per night, then I might feel the pain a little more.

SG
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