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[NOW EXPIRED] PROMO: SPG Getaway Free (Earn May-July 2011)

[NOW EXPIRED] PROMO: SPG Getaway Free (Earn May-July 2011)

 
Old Apr 18, 2011, 5:19 pm
  #241  
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Originally Posted by stallion114
Booking for friend.
I want to earn a couple of these nights and give them to a friend for his wedding (I am best man). If I book under my name is that allowable?
Not under the Terms and Conditions of the offer.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 5:20 pm
  #242  
 
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Originally Posted by stallion114
Booking for friend.
I want to earn a couple of these nights and give them to a friend for his wedding (I am best man). If I book under my name is that allowable?
The free resort nights are non-transferable. You can book a separate room for your friend if and only if you are staying at the resort at the same time.

If the person who earned the free resort nights is not present, the hotel could refuse to honor the reservation.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 6:29 pm
  #243  
 
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I wouldn't try to get one by on spg especially for a honeymoon gift.
I will remind him and the future wife of this promo and hopefully they move all there business to SPG and get a couple nights.

Originally Posted by barelyelite
The free resort nights are non-transferable. You can book a separate room for your friend if and only if you are staying at the resort at the same time.

If the person who earned the free resort nights is not present, the hotel could refuse to honor the reservation.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 6:32 pm
  #244  
 
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Originally Posted by stallion114
Booking for friend.
I want to earn a couple of these nights and give them to a friend for his wedding (I am best man). If I book under my name is that allowable?
The T&Cs of the offer don't allow them to be gifted -- even to immediate family members. The only exception is that you can get multiple rooms at a hotel on the same night as long as you are in one of them.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 7:31 pm
  #245  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
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This is a weak promotion for business travelers. I live at the Four Points in Houston 5 nights a week and will only earn three free nights over the life of the promotion. Compared to the extra 3000+ pts per week I was earning with the Q1 promotion, this is really disappointing.

Like earning elite status, there should be a way to earn these through nights stayed as well as stays. It's like if an airline offered a reward only for segments and not for miles (people who flew long, expensive routes would be screwed).

I'd go to another brand, but the Four Points is too nice to me. They've earned my business for the duration of my time in Houston. I can't say enough about how well I've been treated by everyone here all the way up to the GM.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 7:57 pm
  #246  
 
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I hope its not the 4points at hobby. That place is loud next to I45. May I suggest, renting a car and bounce between hotels every day?
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 9:34 pm
  #247  
 
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Originally Posted by chicaloca453
You also could maximize it. Get your wife a SPG number and check in and out daily but tell them you want to keep the same room. Rotate reservations between your account and her account. It's a tiny hassle to go by the desk and re-key every day but minimal to the benefits earned. Then you end up with 28 stays total aka 9 free nights. It does work. We do it with Hyatt all the time.
Any reports of doing this successfully with SPG?

I'd be interested in doing this. We don't have 28 nights planned anywhere, just 7 nights across 3 weekend trips. That way we don't have to hotel hop at 2 hotels/city. I don't have any chance of making platinum anyways if I lose those 3 stays and put them in my husband's account. We'd each earn 1 FRN and then when booking, I'd hope the hotel I want has two nights available that can be booked separately so I could use each one.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 9:56 pm
  #248  
 
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Originally Posted by WampaCow
Like earning elite status, there should be a way to earn these through nights stayed as well as stays.
Why? If *W wants to increase STAYS, and would also like those stays to be multi-night (as most STAYS are), then why would they run a promo that encouraged NIGHTLY stays when they want STAYS which are more likely to be multi-day?

Oh, wait, you mean "there should be I way I can earn these through nights stayed as well as stays..." Sorry, didn't see the implied you, since *W promos are obviously built around your needs and not those of the company.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's a PROMO. You're getting MORE than they offered you when you signed up for SPG. They've taken NOTHING away. If you don't qualify, too bad... this is to entice those that aren't earning like you are to alter their behavior. And, let's face it... most folks will EARN one or two nights, but want three or four, so they'll book PAID stays at these resorts on top of the free rooms. If they made earning easier, they'd have lots of people staying three or four nights free and not earning ANY revenue. It's really NOT HARD to figure out what *W motivation is - more PAID stays.

Originally Posted by WampaCow
It's like if an airline offered a reward only for segments and not for miles (people who flew long, expensive routes would be screwed).
You mean like the DEQM promos that do NOTHING for me since I qualify on segments? Should I whine because the DEQM's I get don't help ME? Since I fly short routes, I'm screwed (by your logic). I'd LOVE to see a double segment credit promo... but airlines don't need more people to fly for the hell of it, they need to push people to fly in planes that need more average load. That way instead of flying MCI-ORD-SFO, I fly MCI-DFW-SFO instead, and they fill up DFW-SFO.

Promos shape traffic. *W is obviously looking for people to shift stays to *W brands, and compensating them with something that's likely a way to get even MORE paid stays when they're exchanged. Take from that what you will... but you're certainly not getting shafted. You still get exactly what they offer at your level of SPG.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 10:06 pm
  #249  
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Originally Posted by chicaloca453
Get your wife a SPG number and check in and out daily but tell them you want to keep the same room.
It's worth a shot, but there's no guarantee they can or will give you the same room. And if they really wanted to, they could insist you check out at the normal checkout time (unless you're an elite) and wait until the normal checkin time for your next night.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 10:38 pm
  #250  
 
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Originally Posted by WampaCow


This is a weak promotion for business travelers. I live at the Four Points in Houston 5 nights a week and will only earn three free nights over the life of the promotion. Compared to the extra 3000+ pts per week I was earning with the Q1 promotion, this is really disappointing.

Like earning elite status, there should be a way to earn these through nights stayed as well as stays. It's like if an airline offered a reward only for segments and not for miles (people who flew long, expensive routes would be screwed).

I'd go to another brand, but the Four Points is too nice to me. They've earned my business for the duration of my time in Houston. I can't say enough about how well I've been treated by everyone here all the way up to the GM.
The promo's can't make everyone happy. You painted a picture of a very atypical stay pattern. You "live" at the 4 points for 5 days. Great you get the points and the first quarter promo was better for you but it did jack squat to many. But this promo is a godsend to many of us leisure travelers who need these free nights to enjoy a vacation for less money.


I prefer free nights by stays since I can hotel hop freely, but you don't. You win some you lose some, however I don't feel you are being shafted anymore than I feel I was in Q1. They are rotating their promos as well they should.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 10:41 pm
  #251  
 
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Originally Posted by envgeo
I hope its not the 4points at hobby. That place is loud next to I45. May I suggest, renting a car and bounce between hotels every day?
Hehe, no, it's the Four Points Memorial City. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to bounce between hotels. Plus I have too much stuff in my room to move every day.
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Old Apr 18, 2011, 10:51 pm
  #252  
 
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Originally Posted by schley
The promo's can't make everyone happy. You painted a picture of a very atypical stay pattern. You "live" at the 4 points for 5 days. Great you get the points and the first quarter promo was better for you but it did jack squat to many. But this promo is a godsend to many of us leisure travelers who need these free nights to enjoy a vacation for less money.


I prefer free nights by stays since I can hotel hop freely, but you don't. You win some you lose some, however I don't feel you are being shafted anymore than I feel I was in Q1. They are rotating their promos as well they should.
Fair enough, I suppose it's just frustrating to go from more than doubling my points to getting almost nothing.

Also, you put the word live in quotes. "19 stays and 72 nights this year." :P
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Old Apr 19, 2011, 4:36 am
  #253  
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Originally Posted by mahasamatman
It's worth a shot, but there's no guarantee they can or will give you the same room. And if they really wanted to, they could insist you check out at the normal checkout time (unless you're an elite) and wait until the normal checkin time for your next night.
i agree....i know this couple that tries this all the time....sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn't....
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Old Apr 19, 2011, 4:46 am
  #254  
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Exclamation

Originally Posted by chicaloca453
You also could maximize it. Get your wife a SPG number and check in and out daily but tell them you want to keep the same room. Rotate reservations between your account and her account. It's a tiny hassle to go by the desk and re-key every day but minimal to the benefits earned. Then you end up with 28 stays total aka 9 free nights. It does work. We do it with Hyatt all the time.
A warning to those who may follow this suggestion.

While you may maximize benefits from this promotion, if you barely achieve Platinum or Gold status each year this type of activity could cause you to lose out on achieving such status. While it is true that you can tranfer points between accounts with the same address on the account, IIRC you cannot transfer stays/nights credits between accounts.
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Old Apr 19, 2011, 5:42 am
  #255  
 
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The promotion works for me. Looking forward to choosing between the W Bali or the Laguna.
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