WineAGcom

I qualify for Platinum each year so I don't "need" this component... that said, I still like it. The way I look at it... POINTS are just like MONEY. I like new flexibility of not having to think about whether to use cash or points based on if I'll get credit for a stay or not. It's a nice convenience.

I don't think we have to worry about Platinum being devalued. I believe the increase in Platinum members as a result of this will be marginal.

Thank you SPG

pbjag

From my point of view, this is terrific. Much more likely now to use a C&P award at a nice property now (with plenty of F&B and spa spend while there) than to do a mattress run to the cheapest local property if needed to requalify.
Although I travel every week, many trips are for speaking engagements when the conference venue hotel is not my choice.

This will also encourage me to use some of my points occasionally to stay at Starwood properties on business trips. Case in point- the rates at the Westin and W in New York were too pricey for my client on a recent trip so I stayed at the Benjamin. Faced with a similar situation I would now go ahead and use cash and points to stay at the Starwood property because I would get the stay credit (and the Starwood hotel would have benefitted from our $200+ tab for a breakfast meeting).

schley

I don't want to turn this into a Hyatt vs. SPG, but I think in this forum you will have some strong dissent from that statement.

gdemander

By the end of the year I will have around 160 nights, slightly up from my 152 nights last year. So this has no benefit for me.

To all the people saying that 'high value platinum members' get upgraded in advance, I find that very interesting. I have yet to ever have this happen. The only thing I have ever had is calling the hotel and requesting two queen beds instead of my booked one king bed or vice versa. Then I will see the change reflected in my booking prior to checking in, but I have never seen an upgrade prior to checking in.

And to all the people saying that business travelers on the company dime are upset and that isn't fair because others are paying for it with their own money somehow implying that you are better, I say, so what? Airlines and hotels thrive on business travelers so they should be making us feel more important and give us more. (That being said, I see really very little benefit from Starwood's platinum aside from the platinum amenity. I have been upgraded on less than 10% of my stays, so I really don't care about inflating the platinum pool because it is seemingly too large to begin with.)

So in my mind, I am fairly indifferent to this announcement. It is giving more people platinum than there were before, which is obvious. (More people can qualify now, that is how math works.) But this now means more people get more platinum amenities. Great for them, impact on me is 0.

I would be absolutely thrilled if there was a higher level that did start to provide me with something. I would even propose that higher level being called the Business Platinum level so there is 0 confusion that the higher status level is to benefit the people that make Starwood money.

mahasamatman

Unless I missed a post, I don't think anyone is claiming either group is "better", just that the groups have different priorities and preferences.

pindento

+1 here.

I'm typically traveling on the weekend, not competing with what are perceived (by themselves) as SPG's "best" customers. Hotels need to fill rooms on the weekends, as well, right? This will work out great !

gdemander

I said implying, not that anyone was outright claiming that. That was the general feeling that I had when reading the whole thread. Maybe that was just my impression of what people were implying when they stated that they receive platinum status by paying for it out of their own pocket unlike all those business travelers that don't have to pay for it.

Again, I don't really care one way or the other. It is an added benefit for a lot people, so that is great for them and great for SPG if it benefits them financially. It doesn't do anything for me, so I don't care. I will continuing getting my bonus points every week with no upgrade.

sent

There are so many "OMG the sky is falling there will be too many Plats" sentiments on this thread that I think people are forgetting the other tier this also affects, Gold. Someone mentioned earlier that this benefit will help the push to Gold for us low status folks be easier. I've qualified for Gold on stays for the past 2 years. Last year I did the double stay promotion for a few stays and this year I had the 2 stays from the Amex SPG help me out though I would've reached it without them. I'm glad this new benefit will help me in future years because I've just started looking at the "cash and points" options these days when I look for reservations.

I'm not even close to 15 extra stays to reach Plat even with this new benefit. Fifteen stays is a a lot when you don't travel for work and who wants to bounce around for fifteen stays when you're supposed to be on vacation with the family. Before you all say "blah there's no value to being Gold" oh but that extra starpoint makes a big difference on paid stays. My husband recently had a paid stay in Europe without me. Since he's not Gold, that's over 1700 points that he didn't receive.

Amarante

Maybe this never happens again. Then it could be a wash.

sdcarver

Great News Starwood! Thanks William for all your hard work on behalf of Starwood as well!!!

sdcarver

Delightful Lady

mario33

But no free breakfast .....

Thunderroad

LOL!

cnerup

Ditto on this - need to get a higher tier - but not sure what other benefits I would expect for it. Frankly the service is generally great - and after you get to so many nights - heck, just clean is fine with me. Maybe the new tier gives guaranteed updates on award nights - that would be sweet.

BenSenise

Lurkers,
from the FAQ:would there be any reason a stay with one paid night plus one non-spg award night wouldn't count as a stay?