Starwood Lurker

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Best regards,

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

[email protected]

schley

Well there is a reason why hotels are high occupancy, it is because that is when most people are traveling, including those who have earned SNA's. I do think the Ambassador helps, although the SNA's are supposedly computerized, but I wouldn't discount the Ambassador's involvement to aid in your desire to have a near 100% success.

I have no problem with capacity restrictions at all, just hasn't worked great for me. I would like to see some sort of booking codes like airlines have in regards to their suites. F8, C3, D3, Z5, etc, etc,....... Would be nice to check with a property to see when the suite upgrade space is available and provide some transparency and as a result customer satisfaction.

bhrubin

You may find it helpful to contact in advance the Director of Rooms or Revenue Manager at a hotel in which you really hope for a suite upgrade--SNA or otherwise. When done politely and appropriately, I've sometimes found them to be very helpful in letting me have a better idea of lower occupancy and/or higher chances for success for suite upgrades. The key is to not have any expectations and to be able to accept that the information may not be to your liking (or schedule!).

Of course, every Plat50 has the opportunity to choose another elite benefit besides the 10 SNAs. If the SNAs don't work for your travel patterns, then by all means choose another benefit instead.

For those who talk about preferring Hyatt's confirmed suite upgrades, I think you'll find that (1) there are many properties blocked out for that perk that aren't all-suite as with SPG, (2) you have to work much harder to get 60 nights at Hyat than 50 nights at SPG currently, (3) the standard suites with Hyatt are frequently not available as you peruse the Hyatt threads, especially at many of the most popular hotels and particularly at those high occupancy times of year, and (4) Hyatt seems to rarely upgrade Globalists using those confirmed upgrades beyond the standard suite pool, unlike SPG. Hyatt's loyalty program is in a shambles now as their former elites have flocked to Marriott/SPG and even Hilton, so you may find more suite availability!

schley

I am and not in any resentful manner, but looking at the 40% off hotel chain bed of your choice and with much appreciation.

Also I think you can agree, it is easy to love a benefit that you yourself admit you almost never fail to secure. Although you say you may have no expectations I don't know why you wouldn't if you have almost never missed an upgrade?

Thus, a normal distribution is reality and I really think there are other factors working in your favor that would call you almost an outlier. Enjoy.

3rdworldresident

Thank you, my hero.

Oxon Flyer

It does seem, from the spectrum of reports posted here in the forum, that (a) having SNAs nearly always clear and (b) then being frequently further upgraded to suites well beyond the SNA pool is not something that ‘regular’ users of the SNA benefit typically experience.

bhrubin

Double post, sorry.

bhrubin

That may be true, but I don’t think that the typical SNA or even regular Plat upgrades experience is shared by most Plat100 guests. Especially at the best hotels.

People often wonder whether it’s worth it to achieve Plat100 Ambassador level. I’d argue that if you stay more often at luxury level SPG hotels (StR, W, and LuxColl), there is a tremendous benefit to reaching Plat100 status. Upgrades via SNAs and regular Plat status seem to be far more plentiful and much more generous. And my experience is representative of that. So are other Plat100s’ experiences as shared in various SPG threads for the luxury level hotels, as well as those in the Luxury Forum.

There are more suites at luxury hotels than at upper upscale hotels (Le Méridien, Westin, Sheraton, Tribute Portfolio) on average. So staying at more luxury level hotels often increases your chances for upgrades simply because of the greater numbers.

chad75

I'm just a humble leisure traveller not an uber important p100 but love the SNA programme and will be sad to see it potentially go. Never had a problem using my nights and on the rare occasions they haven't been approved ended up with the suite (or a better one) anyway. I don't stay in SPG properties in North America so that may help as well.

damon88

I actually have had a similar experience to Bhrubin- though I am only a lowly Plat75 and do not have an Ambassador

Since SPG keeps their algorithm secret there is no way to know if factors like years in program, years elite, Starpoints earned, lifetime spend, etc. are factored into the equation. The computer obviously has some system of hierarchy. But generally I attribute my success rate to a strategy similar to Bhrubin— applying my SNAs at Hotels with lots of Suites and traveling off-season.

If it’s a super popular time of year and the hotel is full it makes sense to me that Suites will be limited.

Of the 30 SNAs I have applied 24 were approved and the 6 that didn’t clear were at Suiran Kyoto where we were upgraded to the stunning Presidential Suite.

Here is my record for 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017 stays (I still have not applied the 10 SNAs I earned this year yet)

2 StR Rome

5 StR Florence

5 StR Aspen

1 StR Monarch Beach

5 Sheraton Maui

1 US Grant

5 Park Tower Knightsbridge

6 Suiran (did not clear but we had our 2nd best upgrade ever)

Of those stays, the best SNA upgrades were in Florence, Aspen and London.


This has been an extremely valuable benefit for us-
one we are extremely grateful for and one we hope will continue !

Flews

I wonder why there is such a huge difference in experiences? I've never had a problem using SNAs. They always work unless the hotel was especially busy, such as at peak holidays, which is understandable.

Cheers,

Oxon Flyer

Well, for a start, it's pretty clear that there's a subset of "I only try and use SNAs at hotels and at times when I know they will probably clear" members who are skewing their chances and, rather predictably, have a much higher success rate than the rest.

YoungSoloTraveler

If you are in the habit of begging for suite upgrades via pre arrival email are SNA really necessary? Dunno whether to pick the SNA or free night as the gift (which is quite tempting).

scubadu

Ummm... doesn't that seem like pretty rational behavior? Would you posit that trying to use them during times you are almost assuredly not going to be able to clear them, then complaining they are worthless is the better route?

Regards

bhrubin

Sums up most of the complaints about SNAs pretty well, I think.

It seems that far more of us than are in this thread have had very positive experiences with SNAs than people herein want to acknowledge...but the only people who tend to post on the topic are those who unwisely try to use theirs at hotels with few suites or during high occupancy periods where suites are most unavailable.

Misery loves company, I know, but it seems more prudent to learn from one’s mistakes.