gypsyinabigtown

G'day all,

I stay at a particular SPG property in Asia a lot. It is a nice place, and I don't mind staying there; but what ticks me off a bit is that every time the Starpoints posted to my account after the stay are off by a large amount - maybe 20-30% lower or so.
This is not a simple oversight as it has happened in every single one of my 5+ stays with them this year. I think it is because they don't count room service or laundry in the bill when they calculate the eligible spend.

Every time that happens, I ask the PlatConcierge to investigate it, they look into it and I receive the correct number of points within 2-3 days.

However, it is cumbersome and the the hotel should be much more careful in posting accurate # of Starpoints. I've asked PlatConcierge to work with the hotel to see if they can improve their systems, but not sure if this will work out.
Any tips from others on how to handle this?

BonViveur

I have similar experiences. Some reasons:

- in some places, like Thailand, 17-18% is added to the room cost in taxes and charges. You should not earn points on these amounts.
- many properties do not offer points on some service, especially if they are outsourced. e.g.: laundry or car service
- It states in the T&C that Starwood (or the property) uses its own exchange rate, in the calculation of Starpoints and that this may differ from actual exchange rates. This one gets to me. I usually don't complain but if it's a difference greater than 15%, I ask for the additional points. I don't believe they actually recalculate. I think they just give us a few hundred points to keep us happy, after all, it works out to a few dollars value, in most cases, and ends up back in Starwood coffers on redemption.

gypsyinabigtown

Thanks for the response.

Thanks - I do take out the 17% service charge+tax; the 20-30% shortfall in points is there even after these are taken out.

I'm very surprised to read this. I had always received points for laundry spend and SPG's own FAQ seems to be very clear that laundry charges are eligible spend to receive Starpoints:

What are eligible charges?
Eligible room rates (see ineligible charges for further details) food & beverage charges, laundry & dry cleaning,
telephone & in-room faxes, in-room movies & in-room video games.

What are ineligible charges?
Ineligible charges include, but are not limited to: taxes, service charges, gratuities, parking, recreational charges
(includes charges related to golf, spa, watersport rentals, etc.) and any part of any stay prior to June 1, 2008 that is in excess of 30 consecutive or any part of any stay after June 1, 2008 that is in excess of 90 nights. In addition, certain types of room rates are not eligible for Starpoints credit. These include groups or conventions settled through a Master Bill, airline crew room charges, tours or pre-packaged deals through travel agents, wholesale rates, and rates from third-party bookings such as, but not limited to, priceline.com, expedia.com, etc.

Maybe Lurkers can shed a light here - are there any hotels that deviate from this policy and refuse to credit Starpoints for laundry charges?

Starwood Lurker II

Laundry & dry cleaning charges are considered eligible for Starpoints credit. That's all I would clarify over here.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

MSPeconomist

You can't clarify that points should have been received for room service food charges, even excluding service fees and possibly alcoholic beverages in some jurisdictions?

Starwood Lurker II

Was this question asked initially?

Here is my answer:

Food & beverage charges by room service or participating dining outlets are considered eligible charges. However, Starpoints may not be earned for alcohol charges in Hawaii, California, Oregon and Massachusetts.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

RMINIONE

Thanks for the info. I have had a discussion with the bar manager at the Westin in Alexandria Virginia, he is new to the property. He claims that alcohol is never eligible for Starpoints, and only provides points for food. The previous bar manager did provide points on alcohol. Who is right?

RogerD408

I don't see the Plat desk doing much to "fix" the problem. Throw some points your way (which they can do without even contacting the property) and they go off to the next caller. I'd suggest next time this happens, write it up and send to Customer Care and open a file. This should get a lot more attention at the property and as I understand it a fine. That just might open their eyes!

Starwood Lurker

Might be a more complicated issue than it appears on the surface, but it sounds like the SPG Hotel Coordinators need to have a conversation with the hotel's SPG Champion and sort it out for good.

If you would like for us to initiate that, send us your SPG account number.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

Starwood Lurker

That or send one of us the details and we can work on from another angle.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

SanDiego1K

I can't speak to Virginia, but here is an older thread that lists 4 states where because of state law, Starwood cannot give points on alcohol purchases.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...n-updated.html