Which, if anyone is interested, strikes me as very unfair.

I will have some 40-45 nights this year and therefore be a Gold, sharing the same benfits with all (how many million?) members of AAA/CAA...?

Grrr....

I'd have to agree with you there - Preferred Plus seems to undermine the entire Gold status. Except for the bonus points, joining AAA has basically the same benefits. Starwood made a mistake when they did this one. Some benefits for AAA members are fine, but they need to rework it so there is more of a difference between the two levels.

Edited because of spelling.

[This message has been edited by Cory6188 (edited 07-11-2003).]

Preferred Plus started out with the SPG credit card from American Express. This particular level didn't exist until that credit card was re-launched about two years ago. And now SPG has taken Preferred Plus and offered it up to AAA for all of their members (at a premium - I'm sure).

Snowcap

Are you saying if you are a AAA member and also have Gold Status with Starwood they automatically upgrade you to Platinum? If this is true how do I do this?

Sorry I missunderstood...What exactly is Preferred Plus?

For the most part it is Gold without the 50% point bonus. Do a search on this forum and you will find more definative answers.

You know... other than the extra points, Gold doesn't get me anything extra as most hotel don't like to honor the benefits. So it really doesn't matter to me.

So let me see if I have this right?

Prefered Plus x no breakfast = no breakfast.
SPG GLD x no breakfast = no breakfast.

That's right. Breakfast is not a benefit for any level of membership in Starwood Preferred Guest.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Then it's great to be back at the Hilton, my friend! Boy, you fell into that one! :-)

SHADO, I am infinitely aware of your love affair with Hilton. I'm glad that you are so pleased with their frequent stay program. I'm also pleased to provide you with any entertainment you may get out of baiting me for whatever reason. Please feel free to take any opportunities you can to continue to do so. I have been beaten up by some real pros here on Flyertalk and I am sure that I can shag any flies you care to hit my way.

Have a nice weekend.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Having had my share of Hilton breakfasts, I don't feel I'm missing out on anything as an SPG Platinum. However, I know many folks, like SHADO, who would move mountains for the free breakfast. I just don't understand why. But, maybe that's a topic for another thread...

[This message has been edited by raisin (edited 07-12-2003).]

SHADO - I'm glad you are happy with the basic crappy breakfast that you have to beat most Hilton's up to even recieve. I know this, as I was there for a few years and once thought it was a great thing. Then one day I realized that I had all these HH points that I earned from the massive amounts of business-paid travel I was doing, and wanted to redeem them on some vacations. I found this next to impossible to do, so I jumped ship for Starwood after hearing all of the positive things on this board about the program. It was the best decision I ever made. Actually being able to redeem my points for stays when I wanted to (what a concept!), favorably transfer them to airlines, and having the resources of William here are worth more than anything to me. No need to be abrasive and attack him man! I'm glad you like HH - I've had my fill thanks.

If you're traveling on business, why not enjoy the comforts (and program rewards) of a *wood property and just expense your $7 breakfast?

I've never understood the whole "gotta have a free breakfast" mantra. For me, a free breakfast does make or break my hotel choice. I'd rather be comfortable in my room, receive good service, and be able to reap the rewards of a program that allows me to book award rooms wherever/whenever I decide.


[This message has been edited by msp_flier (edited 07-14-2003).]

You know, as a former Gold and now Platinum I gotta say that even though breakfast is not a benefit of any level of SPG, I sure seem to get a lot of free breakfast coupons at check-in now and in the past. Often full breakfasts as well.

Hardly ever use the things, but nice to get them all the same.

Am I the only one getting these things? I know it's a "above and beyond" thing that's up to the property, but I mean it's really at the majority of the properties I've stayed at.

In addition to that, there are the properties that have Executive Lounges that I always have access to. And they serve complimentary breakfast as well.

We're Gold at Hilton as well, and while there might be some advantage to being guaranteed a $7 to $10 breakfast, I just don't see any real advantage vs. the quality of properties, customer service and program benefits of Starwood. I've written to Hilton 3 time in the last 6 months...still haven't heard a thing. Nothing. Just Auto-Replies that my emails had been received.

I'd give up the breakfast benefit in an instant, if Hilton would just improve their customer service. Not to mention trying to redeem an award with those awards that went way up in cost from 100k to 175k! Yeech! You'd think if they jacked up the cost that much, they would at least shake a little more inventory out of the Capacity Control tree now and then. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif IMHO.

I am currently a HH diamond and and SPG Plat (comped). I qualify for SPG Plat in the next couple of months. I am currently staying at the Sheraton Grande Sukumvit in Bangkok. What a great hotel and I agree with PremEx. I get a lot of free breakfast from SPG hotels. Usually through a upgrade or a rate they offer. While I like HH program with the devalueation of the VIP awards I think that SPG is a better program for me. So at the beginning of the year it was HH first then SPG. After the upgrades at SPG and the devalueantion of HH points it is now SPG first and then HH second. And William then only thing that SHADO can shag is his own a$$. Read all about it on the AA board.

------------------
dallasflyer

Granted the free breakfast at Hilton is a plus; however, when traveling on business, breakfast becomes a business expense anyway. The only advantage comes during leisure travel. Unfortunately, due to Hilton's black out dates, finding a hotel with availability during the time I can vacation can be a challenge. As such, I'll be more than happy to concede a free breakfast in exchange for Starwood's lack of black-out dates. Ironically, with that said we'll be staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in two weeks on a free award and we had better receive free breakfast.

I suppose it's all a matter of preference. All programs have their advantages and disadvantages. I'm still miffed at the fact that you use to be able to stay at the St. Regis for 10K points, but now it cost you 25K. Surprisingly their rack rate hasn't increased 150%.

Starwood Preferred Business Program
 

Tried a search and could not find a discussion of this program so the details are below. I like the double points through April 2004 benefit. As I am Gold the Preferred Plus benefit is not much use. Not sure about how the double points combines with the gold bonus points or other promos - perhaps William can give me some wisdom there.

The invite came via my membership in AABusinessExtra. You do have to enter a corporate ID and wait three days which your app is processed so I guess you need to be a legitimate business to join this program. Since all AAA members get to be preferred plus - why not people that work for a business too - that way no-one gets left out ;-)

INVITE MESSAGE
As an American Airlines® Business ExtrAA® member, your company is invited to join an exclusive new program — Starwood Preferred Business(SM). It will save your company money and allow your associates to take advantage of unrivaled recognition and rewards as they travel around the world. Simply enroll your company today at spg.com/bizenroll1.

AFTER JOINING

Dear Traveler,

Our company is now part of a new program called Starwood Preferred Business(SM). This program is designed to save us money on hotel stays while we enjoy unprecedented rewards around the world.

Join today.* On every stay, simply provide your Starwood Preferred Business membership number, and you’ll automatically save 10-40% off published Corporate rates at more than 750 of the world’s best hotels, including Westin®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection® and W Hotels®. You’ll also enjoy rewards that include:

• An automatic upgrade to a Preferred Room at check-in.**
• The convenience of 4 p.m. late checkout.**
• Two Starpoints(SM) per US dollar spent. Starpoints can be redeemed for free nights, free flights, room upgrades and more.
• A complimentary newspaper each weekday morning.
• Hassle-free awards. Redeem for free nights without blackout dates or availability restrictions.


You’ll also earn double Starpoints (four Starpoints per dollar spent) on every stay from the date you join through April 30, 2004.

To begin enjoying the rewards of Starwood Preferred Business, join today. By taking advantage of this unique opportunity, you’ll help our company save money on travel and enjoy recognition and rewards at the same time. Feel free to contact me with any questions.


Thank you,

XXXXX

*If you're already a member of Starwood Preferred Guest, please call 877-782-0128 and mention enrollment code SPB to update your account.

**Subject to availability.

Offer is valid for Starwood Preferred Business guests only. Double Starpoints (four Starpoints for every dollar spent) will be awarded on all member stays from the date of their enrollment through 4/30/04. This promotion may not be used in combination with other Starwood Preferred Guest bonus offers. All bonus Starpoints will be credited to the member's account 4-6 weeks after completion of stay. Additional restrictions may apply. All promotions are subject to the Starwood Preferred Guest terms and conditions, which are subject to change without notice and can be found at www.spg.com. Starwood Hotels & Resorts is not responsible for typographical errors.
© 2003 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

only concern is this may stop you from getting targeted offers

Probably like every other double Starpoints offer it is in reference to the base Starpoints earned and not your elite level bonus. You will still get the elite level bonus however, and it will not affect your participation in any other promotions.

Whether or not it leads you to targeted promotion oblivion as welookgood.com suggests, I cannot say, but it seems very unlikely.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Thanks William for the clarification, I have not received many targeted promos to date maybe because my travel does not fall into much of a pattern so I am not too worried on that score.

Starwood Lurker:

One of the benefits of this level is a 2,000-Starpoint bonus after a member's fifth and tenth stays.

1) Do these stays have to occur in a set period of time (e.g., within a year) OR are they cumulative over the life of a member's status?

2) If cumulative, does a change in status to a level such as "Gold Preferred" re-set the "stay" counter if the 5 or 10 stays have not yet been achieved?

Corporate level threshold bonuses run on a calendar year basis - in other words, from January through December. So, a Corporate level member who has nine stays in that time frame will get a single 2,000 Starpoints threshold bonus and the earning begins anew in the next calendar year.

If a Corporate level member stays 10 times within a calendar year, then he gets the second 2,000 Starpoints threshold bonus and he is upgraded automatically to the Gold elite level. Corporate level threshold bonuses would then cease altogether unless the member fails to requalify as a Gold elite and is returned to Corporate level status. Then the threshold bonus thing starts over anew on a calendar year basis once again.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Preferred? Corporate Preferred?
 

I have been a regular preferred guest for about 3 months now but today I received a new card in the mail that is Corporate Preferred... The account # on the card is the same except with a C prefix instead of B. Is there any difference? And any reason I got this card? It is just my personal account, not through the business or anything.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/006618.html
And lots of threads in the archives.

Can you get instant upgrade to Starwood Preferred Guest
 

Recently joined Starwood and was trying to get an upgrade to Gold - as a Farimont Gold that wasn't enough, I was told I could get Starwood Preferred Guest which gave same upgrade benefits as Gold but not as much point accumulation. Apparently you need AAA to get Preferred - any other thoughts if not a triple A member?

Thought there were still some Gold upgrade offers lingering but all seem to require transfer of points to airlines.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Toronto Traveler.

I'm just looking at my paperwork and looks like I'm already a preferred guest member - is there anything between that and Gold?

Do they really upgrade basic members (preferred) if rooms are available?

Thanks.

T.O. Traveler

neil, I think you'll find that upgrades for (basic) preferred members may be available, but will cost you Starpoints to get them ( http://www.starwood.com/preferredgue...s_landing.html ).

On the upgrade to Gold front, if you have a Platinum AMEX, SPG Gold comes with that (as does Fairmont Gold).


[This message has been edited by pdjcrawford (edited 09-15-2003).]

SPG has five tiers---

1) Preferred Guest - Sign up and you get it!
2) PreferredPlus- AAA membership (and the right code will get you this, not a published tier- gets some upgrades/ no bonus points)
3) Gold- 50% points bonus- some offers- but usually earned.
4) Platinum- Mucho upgrades! Hilton Diamond can be comped- but nothing else. Otherwise earn it.
5) VIP- The "secret" level- by invite only.

I think I got this all right...

Thanks Bradford.

I think Preferred Plus is what I'm looking for. If you've got any insights on the "code" would be much appreciated.

Take care.

Toronto Traveler

you can find the full thread on the AAA deal here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/007598.html
its long so to summarize basically you call spg and tell them you want to upgrade or whatever with enrollment code AAA and make sure they add A1K as the promotion code to your account also. Once that is done in a couple of days you will see a 1000 point bonus for each of your stays (up to 3) since june 15th and on until november or something.
I am relatively new to all this and I think Bradford's chart is correct but between 2 & 3 should be corporate preferred... thats what i am but I have no idea what it gets me.

Lufthansa code also works for instant Gold.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express also gets you instant Preferred Plus Status. It is without a doubt the easiest way to earn Starpoints, other than staying at SPG properties of course.

Snowcap

True, but be prepared to work for those points. 4 months after joining, no AMEX bonus points have shown up; it's been two weeks since my last call to AMEX where they apologized and said they were investigating...at some point, I'll forget I was ever owed them (maybe that's their strategy http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif).

see this thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/007147.html

also
http://www.webflyer.com/blog/posts.php?entry=935

Corporate Member x Gold Member ??
 

I received an "invitation" to become a Corporate Member from Varig/Starwood.
I understood that *wood has Preferred, Gold and Platinum members. What's Corporate ?
I am already Gold. Any extra benefits ?

SPG Gold get bonus SPG points per dollar spent. SPG Corporates do not get bonus SPG points per dollar spent. SPG Corporates get bonus points only after every 5 stays... and maybe just for the first second set of 5 stays, if I remember correctly.

Other than that, the benefits are basically the same with regards to late check-out, room "upgrade" chances, etc.

I just became a corporate member a while back without even asking. One day I went to check my spg account online and noticed the change. Must have crossed some sort of internal threshold.

Starwood Preferred Business Program
 

As the owner of my own business, I just received in the mail a promotional piece announcing the Starwood Preferred Business program for small to mid-size businesses.

Details of this program can be found here.

I am already a Starwood Preferred Guest member with no status, although I was once gold.

Double Starpoints can be earned on all stays through April 30, 2004. Additionally, my company will enjoy access to unpublished discount rates through April 30, 2004, saving from 10% to 40% off published Corporate rates.

This offer is “targeted” towards small to mid-size businesses, not individuals. If you own or run a small to mid-size business and do not know about this program, I hope the information I have provided will prove to be helpful to you.

I did a search on FlyerTalk and found no information on this new program. Has anyone else received this promotional piece? Has anyone joined this particular program or had any experience with it? If so, what is your opinion of it?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/007753.html

We joined this program last summer when it was offered through AA BusinessExtraAA program. Sometimes the SET (corp) rates are lower and sometimes not so be sure to check both. Double points have posted in either case, ususally in a sweep about twice a month.

[This message has been edited by TravelAuto (edited Dec 15, 2003).]