Discussion: 10 Suite Night Awards (SNAs) for Plats with 50 nights in calendar year
#151
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Based on the new Suite Night benefit, it seems pretty clear that Starwood corporate does place a higher value on the member that stays 50+ nights/year than than the one that has 25+ stays. It seems logical to me that the mysterious "art and science" Starwood has historically used to determine priority among Platinums in their daily suggested upgrade list for each hotel probably already gave a higher priority to those Platinums with 50+ nights over those with fewer nights, but 25+ stays. So those 50+ nights Platinums were probably already scoring the better upgrades over the 25+ stay Platinums in 2011, even if it weren't as obvious to members as it is now with the introduction of the Suite Night benefit. So I am thinking that this new benefit probably won't mean a big difference between when a 25+ Platinum member scores the great upgrade vs. the 50+ nighter.
I don't necessarily agree with your final conclusion because under the current model the property can still make a local decision based upon factors such as loyalty to their property beyond loyalty to Starwood, the suite night awards would reduce this flexibility I think.
#152
Join Date: Oct 2004
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chances of upgrade
when i do the math, its only 10 nights i can upgrade. its not 10 stays.
so i dont worry too much of not getting good upgrades.
the number of platinums wont change so much, so i think that you wont notice any different in 90% of the hotels.
in the top hotels, you will see that suite upgrades wont clear so easy. but well often these top hotels have some many platinums fighting for an upgrade, it doesnt change too much too.
so i am happy i did over 50 stays last year, and will use the suite upgrades on holiday stays with family or at the octoberfest in munich this year.
dp
so i dont worry too much of not getting good upgrades.
the number of platinums wont change so much, so i think that you wont notice any different in 90% of the hotels.
in the top hotels, you will see that suite upgrades wont clear so easy. but well often these top hotels have some many platinums fighting for an upgrade, it doesnt change too much too.
so i am happy i did over 50 stays last year, and will use the suite upgrades on holiday stays with family or at the octoberfest in munich this year.
dp
#153
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when i do the math, its only 10 nights i can upgrade. its not 10 stays.
so i dont worry too much of not getting good upgrades.
the number of platinums wont change so much, so i think that you wont notice any different in 90% of the hotels.
in the top hotels, you will see that suite upgrades wont clear so easy. but well often these top hotels have some many platinums fighting for an upgrade, it doesnt change too much too.
so i am happy i did over 50 stays last year, and will use the suite upgrades on holiday stays with family or at the octoberfest in munich this year.
dp
so i dont worry too much of not getting good upgrades.
the number of platinums wont change so much, so i think that you wont notice any different in 90% of the hotels.
in the top hotels, you will see that suite upgrades wont clear so easy. but well often these top hotels have some many platinums fighting for an upgrade, it doesnt change too much too.
so i am happy i did over 50 stays last year, and will use the suite upgrades on holiday stays with family or at the octoberfest in munich this year.
dp
#154
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To put your example in proper context, the 1st Class Platinums (50+ nighers) are those that chose to come in and prepare the food and serve it. The 2nd Class Platinums (the 50- nighters) are those that volunteered to clean up afterwards. In this case, the executive (Starwood) invited all of the 1st Class Platinums to go out to eat at a fancy restaurant while the 2nd Class Platinums were occupied with cleaning up the soup kitchen. Both participated equally in the program, but only one group was unexpectedly rewarded.
Well, yes. 25 stays equals at least 25 nights. 50 nights equals at least 50 nights. Not terribly surprising, IMO.
#155
Join Date: Nov 2010
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It't not just the cert suite upgrades, it's also that, according to the WSJ, several tens of thousands of people have newly assigned Ambassadors who will contact every hotel prior to their arrival to request that they be preassigned to a suite upgrade, among other things.
BTW, I talked to SPG PLT desk yesterday and it seems they are making new badge on all accounts, like PLT50, PLT75 or PLT100. But they told me hotels would not know this. Hotel will only know PLT is a PLT.
#156
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 139
Agreed. I was just postulating that for those who qualify as Platinums on 25 stays but not 50 nights (like me, usually) and feel that through the introduction of the Suite Nights benefit that they are now being treated as second in priority to the 50+ nighters in terms of available upgrades, that this lesser status was was probably already de facto the case if the hotel used the Starwood-suggested priority upgrade list in assigning the upgrades and that list incorporated a corporate preference for the 50+ nighters. All of which is just a long way of saying that hopefully there won't be a big change in frequency (or lack thereof) of upgrades for those who qualify on 25+ stays based on the Suite Night Awards because it was already probably baked in the upgrade system.
#157
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: AC 100K; SPG Plat (CEM); Hertz President's Circle
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The typical hotel I stay at has regular rooms, premium rooms (same size, but with view or on club floor) and junior suites. Platinums routinely get upgraded to premium rooms, but unless you are a very frequent and recognized guest or have an Ambassador, regular Platinums rarely get upgraded to a junior suite. Would others agree? I’m wondering about the implications of the new Suite awards. Property VIPs will likely still get their upgrades to suite (mgmt at one of the hotels I frequent will block a junior suite for me when I make the booking, never mind 5 days before arrival). The real impact will be on guests with Ambassadors. My Ambassador has mixed success scoring suite upgrades for me (depends on the property). If he is able to get me upgraded, I’m usually not confirmed until a couple days before my arrival. Suite awards will benefit Platinums who will now be confirmed 5 days prior to arrival, at the expense of Platinums w/Ambassadors (like me) – never mind that ranks of those with Ambassadors has swelled with all the new Platinum 100+s being added. So, sounds like available suites will now go to Suite award redeemers, benefiting <100 Platinums, leaving less inventory available for guests with Ambassadors. I guess this will now force me to play the game of trying my luck at scoring a suite through my Ambassador, or spending my Suite awards to (hopefully) confirm a suite.
#158
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Agreed. I was just postulating that for those who qualify as Platinums on 25 stays but not 50 nights (like me, usually) and feel that through the introduction of the Suite Nights benefit that they are now being treated as second in priority to the 50+ nighters in terms of available upgrades, that this lesser status was was probably already de facto the case if the hotel used the Starwood-suggested priority upgrade list in assigning the upgrades and that list incorporated a corporate preference for the 50+ nighters. All of which is just a long way of saying that hopefully there won't be a big change in frequency (or lack thereof) of upgrades for those who qualify on 25+ stays based on the Suite Night Awards because it was already probably baked in the upgrade system.
#159
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SPG Call Center
If you think the SPG Platinum desk blew up after this announcement, just wait until March 1st!
While many are upset about the execution of this program, I think we all agree that it's an improvement.
However, how much better will lie in its execution. It will be really interesting to follow this forum in March as the first round of people actually go through the process of trying to book a "Suite Night". I will be one of those as I have an anniversary trip planned with my wife on March 20th.
While many are upset about the execution of this program, I think we all agree that it's an improvement.
However, how much better will lie in its execution. It will be really interesting to follow this forum in March as the first round of people actually go through the process of trying to book a "Suite Night". I will be one of those as I have an anniversary trip planned with my wife on March 20th.
#160
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While I think this is a great move by SPG to satisfy the demands of Plats who have 50+ nights, I hope this won't affect how Plat Lites are treated at hotels, since individual hotels do not benefit from Plat 100+ if those 100+ nights are not spent at the specific hotel in question.
This added benefit won't alter the way I balance my stays among the different hotel chains based my travel pattern so that I have more options as Rambuster stated.
This added benefit won't alter the way I balance my stays among the different hotel chains based my travel pattern so that I have more options as Rambuster stated.
#161
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While I think this is a great move by SPG to satisfy the demands of Plats who have 50+ nights, I hope this won't affect how Plat Lites are treated at hotels, since individual hotels do not benefit from Plat 100+ if those 100+ nights are not spent at the specific hotel in question.
#162
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Before we go too far down this road of "priority algorithms," let's remember,.... IIRC, William told us last year or the year before that there is no algorithm, at least not centrally. SPG provides an unranked list to each property of arriving guests who are PLT. The individual hotels then allocate the upgrades as they see fit. Put slightly differently, there may, indeed, be "algorithms," but they're determined by each hotel and likely extremely subjective.
#163
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With all this sturm und drang about "Plat lites" and whatnot, I'm surprised more people aren't mentioning a fairly major limitation of this benefit: suite upgrades are not confirmed until five days before arrival.
Hyatt's comparable upgrades for Diamonds are confirmed at booking. That makes them much more useful in planning a vacation when you need a suite (or at the least, need to plan around it).
On the other hand, the traditional logic still remains with SPG: if you need a suite, book it and pay for it.
Hyatt's comparable upgrades for Diamonds are confirmed at booking. That makes them much more useful in planning a vacation when you need a suite (or at the least, need to plan around it).
On the other hand, the traditional logic still remains with SPG: if you need a suite, book it and pay for it.
#164
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Based on the new Suite Night benefit, it seems pretty clear that Starwood corporate does place a higher value on the member that stays 50+ nights/year than than the one that has 25+ stays. It seems logical to me that the mysterious "art and science" Starwood has historically used to determine priority among Platinums in their daily suggested upgrade list for each hotel probably already gave a higher priority to those Platinums with 50+ nights over those with fewer nights, but 25+ stays. So those 50+ nights Platinums were probably already scoring the better upgrades over the 25+ stay Platinums in 2011, even if it weren't as obvious to members as it is now with the introduction of the Suite Night benefit. So I am thinking that this new benefit probably won't mean a big difference between when a 25+ Platinum member scores the great upgrade vs. the 50+ nighter.
#165
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It't not just the cert suite upgrades, it's also that, according to the WSJ, several tens of thousands of people have newly assigned Ambassadors who will contact every hotel prior to their arrival to request that they be preassigned to a suite upgrade, among other things. Then there will be the priority lists sent to hotels suggesting who should be upgraded, which will presumably also be based on the four levels of Plat. The odds of a suite or other meaningful upgrade being available to a fourth class Plat look grim under any reasonable scenario or estimate of numbers, except possible for bottom category hotels in bad locations.