Defination of a "stay"
May 11, 2001, 11:10 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: MI
Programs: Delta, AA
Posts: 609
Defination of a "stay"
I am new to Starwood (I've switched over from Marriott) and recently enrolled in the year long promotion for bonus points after X amount of "stays". If I stay Monday night at hotel A, Tuesday night at hotel B, and Wednesday night back at hotel A, does this count as 3 stays? Are there any Starwood definations regarding a "stay" that I should be aware of? Any help appreciated.
May 11, 2001, 12:20 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: MI
Programs: Delta, AA
Posts: 609
Thanks for the link, but this really doesn't give a very focuses answer. What is the Starwood policy...no consecutive stays in the same city? And if it is, what is a "city"...a name or a number of miles? Anyone else have any info?
May 11, 2001, 12:31 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: MI
Programs: Delta, AA
Posts: 609
This is from the Starwood site:
1. You will earn Gold Preferred Guest status if you record a minimum of 10 Eligible Stays or a minimum of 25 Eligible Nights in any calendar year at participating Starwood hotels and resorts. An "Eligible Stay" is defined as one or more consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, whether or not you checked out and checked back in again, during which you paid a qualifying room rate and a Preferred Guest membership number is presented at time of registration. Stays in which you presented a frequent flyer card from a participating airline program do not qualify as an Eligible Stay. An "Eligible Night" is each night during an Eligible Stay.
From this I would conclude that the answer to my origianl question at the top of this thread would be YES. My question is--to those Starwood experts--is this a legitimate qualification? Where is the "consectutive stays in the same city" issue posted?
1. You will earn Gold Preferred Guest status if you record a minimum of 10 Eligible Stays or a minimum of 25 Eligible Nights in any calendar year at participating Starwood hotels and resorts. An "Eligible Stay" is defined as one or more consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, whether or not you checked out and checked back in again, during which you paid a qualifying room rate and a Preferred Guest membership number is presented at time of registration. Stays in which you presented a frequent flyer card from a participating airline program do not qualify as an Eligible Stay. An "Eligible Night" is each night during an Eligible Stay.
From this I would conclude that the answer to my origianl question at the top of this thread would be YES. My question is--to those Starwood experts--is this a legitimate qualification? Where is the "consectutive stays in the same city" issue posted?
May 11, 2001, 12:47 pm
#5
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
snackyx, a stay is defined as "one or more paid consecutive nights at a participating Starwood Hotel or Resort." There used to be a conditional reference to not being able to stay in the same city and changing hotels on consecutive nights (especially on promotions like Free Fridays & More and Free Weekends), but it was a decidedly unenforceable condition since the database was not able to discern the difference, and credited the stays as separate anyway. In the scenario you offer above, you will be credited for three separate stays.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]
May 11, 2001, 4:40 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: MI
Programs: Delta, AA
Posts: 609
William: Thanks for your clarification. What a treat to have someone FROM Starwood actually give it to us straight! I have been a Marriott patron (40+ nights/year) for years, and have just deceided to give Starwood a try. This is a welcome start, indeed! Thanks again.
May 12, 2001, 2:20 pm
#7
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: WashDC - AA Lifetime Gold, UA Premier Gold, Marriott Titanium Lifetime, Hilton Diamond, Cal Tort Burrito Elito
Posts: 270
William, I hope you're right, that the condition is unenforceable, but on the "It pays to stay more" promotion I note that my postcard says "Bonus points will not be awarded if you check out, then check back in at the same hotel [no problem there], or for back-to-back nights at different hotels in the same city." Don't recall seeing the language about back-to-back nights in the same city in previous promotions.
Called the Plat line re: an upcoming week long stay in Seattle. They said Tacoma was a different city but Sheraton, W, and Westin in Seattle would be same city???
Called the Plat line re: an upcoming week long stay in Seattle. They said Tacoma was a different city but Sheraton, W, and Westin in Seattle would be same city???
May 12, 2001, 4:15 pm
#8
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,670
The wording I've seen throughtout years of offers and promotion is that for elite qualification, what is proposed by snackyx works. It does not work for promotions. But whether is is enforced is a totally different issue as the Lurker suggests.
May 14, 2001, 11:57 am
#9
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Clarification:
This kind of situation depends greatly on how the hotel choses to credit your stay, whether or not there are shared reservation offices in the same city, and how savvy they are in using the information at their disposal.
For example, if you stayed at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers one night, then checked out and moved over to the Sheraton Russell Hotel the next night, and then over to the Sheraton Manhattan Hotel the third night, there is every possibility that you will get credit for three nights on a single stay because they share reservation offices.
If, on the other hand, you stayed at the Sheraton Russell the first night, The Essex House on the second night, then the W Court on the third night, then probably no one would be the wiser as each of these hotels are represented by differenct reservations offices. They would enter the stay from their respective ends and the database would read three separate stays on three separate dates.
Any Terms and Conditions that are stated on a specific promotion are an overriding factor. Promotion codes have the capability of setting certain perameters that the database reads in spite of how the stay was credited. For this reason, some members may have experienced being ineligible for stays in regard to promotion purposes and elite status re-certification in the past and going forward. It is always best to heed any condition placed on a promotional offer for this reason.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]
[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 05-14-2001).]
This kind of situation depends greatly on how the hotel choses to credit your stay, whether or not there are shared reservation offices in the same city, and how savvy they are in using the information at their disposal.
For example, if you stayed at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers one night, then checked out and moved over to the Sheraton Russell Hotel the next night, and then over to the Sheraton Manhattan Hotel the third night, there is every possibility that you will get credit for three nights on a single stay because they share reservation offices.
If, on the other hand, you stayed at the Sheraton Russell the first night, The Essex House on the second night, then the W Court on the third night, then probably no one would be the wiser as each of these hotels are represented by differenct reservations offices. They would enter the stay from their respective ends and the database would read three separate stays on three separate dates.
Any Terms and Conditions that are stated on a specific promotion are an overriding factor. Promotion codes have the capability of setting certain perameters that the database reads in spite of how the stay was credited. For this reason, some members may have experienced being ineligible for stays in regard to promotion purposes and elite status re-certification in the past and going forward. It is always best to heed any condition placed on a promotional offer for this reason.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]
[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 05-14-2001).]
May 14, 2001, 4:48 pm
#10
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: London, UK
Programs: KLM Platinum, BA Gold, ex-HHonors Diamond, Starwood SPG Gold (ex-Platinum), StarChoice
Posts: 419
Originally posted by snackyx:
This is from the Starwood site:
... during which you paid a qualifying room rate and a Preferred Guest membership number is presented at time of registration.
This is from the Starwood site:
... during which you paid a qualifying room rate and a Preferred Guest membership number is presented at time of registration.
Thanks.
May 14, 2001, 5:07 pm
#11
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Starpoints are calculated based on the following eligible charges: room rate, food and beverage, laundry/valet, telephone and in-room movies. Taxes, gratuities, banquet and meeting charges, service charges and other miscellaneous charges are not eligible for Starpoint credit. In addition, certain types of room rates are not eligible for Starpoint credit. These include groups or conventions settled through a Master Bill, tours or pre-packaged deals through travel agents, and wholesale rates (Priceline.com, Hotwire.com, etc.).
For a discussion on other Online Wholesalers, please visit this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/001550.html
As always, any paid rate booked online via a Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Web site is a qualifying rate to earn Starpoints.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]
[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 05-14-2001).]
For a discussion on other Online Wholesalers, please visit this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/001550.html
As always, any paid rate booked online via a Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Web site is a qualifying rate to earn Starpoints.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]
[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 05-14-2001).]