lotrbfme

Hello guys!

I will be sitting by end of November at 91 nights, that means that I will have 91% of the work done to get SPG Ambassador.

Here is my situation: Next year I am getting married and I pretend to travel on my honeymoon with my soon to be wife and we will be staying at several SPG hotels and after that I will plan to travel at the end of the year again with her staying on SPG hotels with her. This without counting my regular work stays.

Is it really worth it to force 9 nights? I mean I have all december without any trip planned, I could go to Orlando for a short vacation or something But it would cost $1000 aprox... Is it worth it?

Thanks!

vandalby

I think it would be helpful if you could provide some idea of what services our outcomes you expect the Ambassador to drive in relation to your honeymoon and we can tell you if it would be worth it or not.

MSPeconomist

It would also be useful to know where the honeymoon will be and more generally where and the types of hotels you usually use.

lotrbfme

I will be at some St regis, W hotels and Grosvenor house in dubai and al Maha. I dont really knoe what ambassador can do for me. But I always book the regular room, I dont book suites and would prefer to get upgraded

vandalby

I'm sure there will be plenty who will probably disagree, but I think it's worth it. My experience has been that having an Ambassador help grease the wheels for upgrades in relation to special events usually yields better outcomes than just being the average platinum on the street or hoping an SNA will clear.

Keyser

there is a thread that already exists on this topic:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...00-nights.html

in short, if you get a good ambassador then its definitely worth it....

MSPeconomist

The OP is asking whether Ambassador is worht nine more nights. For many others, the choice is Ambassador versus applying 25-50 nights to a different hotel program and earning elite status in another chain.

lotrbfme

Correct. I dont have any more nights to spend for work at least. I could do a 9 day vacation that will come out of my pocket. I mean it would still be a vacation, its not like it is going to be wasted money, but it will require some effort.

lotrbfme

Thanks! Does the ambassador helps with your24 too? how does it work? I havent used it. I read on a blog that you can use your24 plus 4pm check out to do something like 8am check in and 4pm check out.

My wedding night is at a st regis and I would like to be able to have access to my room before I go to my wedding (like at 3pm) to prepare everything and make sure everything is fine. And then I dont want to have to check out at midday and rush to get out of the hotel, and no paying another night is way too expensive unfortunately ($1,700 per night).

It would be ideal to have check in at 12am and check out at 4pm something like that.

CPRich

Your24 kicks in at 75 nights which, if you're only 9 short of 100, you should have.

You apply for it through the web site, so why not give it a try now - Ambassador not needed. You can always cancel. I already have an early check-in for the Sydney Sheraton next June - approval was received within 24 hours. Iirc, others have waited until much closer to the arrival date.

Your24
I used this last time I was in Mumbai - 9am check-in then 4p checkout several days later.

12noon or 12midnight? (there's an enitre thread discussing how 12am is meaningless). 12noon to 4p, you should be fine. I'd apply Your24 just to be sure, but 12n is probably close enough to official check-in time that it wouldn't matter. But outside the US, you sometime find sticklers for check-in time. 12midnight to 4pm, I don't think that will fly.

wharvey

Personally, I would be saving the cost of those nine nights and use that money to pay for upgraded rooms when I need them.

It would be a crapshoot on whether you would get any upgrade via your Ambassador anyway.

On another front, if it was my wedding cutting costs would be the last consideration. If I wanted to impress, I would bite the bullet and pay for the room I want. This is hopefully the only wedding you will have.... not the time to depend on the kindness of others.

And, "throwing" away $900 to get to 100 nights to me makes no sense... but I am sure many would do it in a heartbeat.

lotrbfme

Thanks to both of you for your recommendations. I agree with what you say too.

I am glad to know I can do your24 + late check out.

Thankfully for the wedding night I paid for one of the best suites in the St regis so I dont have to bother with upgrades, and on al maha the standard room is fine. I was just aiming for a good upgrade on grosvenor house and some properties in thailand ( W, st regis) and paris. I guess I rather save the 9 nights and use it on other stuff. Thank you very much.

Btw I am not 75 yet. I will be staying 25 nights of november on different spg properties and then I will reach 75.

factory81

Two times I have used a ambassador so far;

1) To try and get SPG to honor the $20 Four Point/Coke promo. They worked their magic, but it took some time - and the platinum desk may have resolved it anyways.

2) I basically called them and said I have a beach vacation in Florida in mind, what are the rate options (points, points + cash, etc) for various rooms in different properties. They e-mailed me back a list of 7 or 8 hotels with the room types, etc. I thought that was pretty cool, they basically did a lot of the homework for me. Some room types I can't even see online, etc - so I would have called them anyways. But for them to do the homework - that saved me a few minutes of time.

Is SPG ambassador worth it? Tough. I wish the Ambassador acted more like Santa, like if I am asking for a SNA in a great property, or obviously on vacation - surprises, treats, and other signs of recognition are appreciated. A small vase of flowers, some wine and snacks/fruit, or even a personal note suggesting my ambassadors top suggestions for me at the hotel XYZ.

This is free service, and I do get a occasional fruit or wine offering. But I think you get what I mean by trying to offer a little something more....

factory81

Your24 is a pretty weak offering. It more often than not, will not work.

Late checkout though, I do have luck with more often than not. Noon-4pm checkout times are usually not a problem.

donotblink

Do you have either of the SPG Amexs? If you didn't have either, you could end up with 101 nights by paying $200 in annual fees.

Where do you live? It might be possible that you could do a really cheap mattress run doing using the best rate guarantee program. Even if you had to drive two hours to a cheap Four Points, you could do a 9 night reservation, conservatively at $50/night (if you use the 20% off feature) and spend $450 to get to SPG Plat 100. By making a green choice, you could just leave the hotel, and let the room auto-checkout, while collecting extra points.