Starwood program not worth trying vs. Marriott
 

My first post... Plat with Delta, lifetime plat with Marriott. Trying Sheraton for business trip to Japan for conference later this week. Learned that since reservation made through 3rd party, no points, no upgrade, no lounge, probably no free wifi... so no recognition of status, basically. Marriott doesn't care whether the reservation is made through a conference organizer or not. Or whether you are traveling for work, and therefore have a corp discount rate.
So... likely the last Sheraton stay for me. I don't know why anyone would stay there if it is work-related and they get no benefits, unless I am just missing something. It will be interesting to see whose rules are adopted after the merger.

The two programs are simply different, and will have advantages and disadvantages. I think you'll find most people on this forum will argue that Starwood has the much stronger balance of advantages.

For future reference, if you'd like Starwood recognition, book on SPG.com, the hotel website, AMEX FHR or via your corporate agent. If you're finding cheaper on 3rd party sites, then you can do a BRG and get the Starwood rate matched to below that.

In any case, welcome to Flyertalk! There's plenty of advice here of how to get the most out of Starwood in the remaining months.

I am lifetime platinum on both starwood and marriot and SPG is definitely a better program with better overall hotels and amenities.

I have never had issues with SPG amenities booking through room blocks or 3rd party sites.

Did you get your Marriott status matched with SPG via the website? If you booked your stay through spg.com / hotel website / AMEX FHR / corp agent, your platinum benefits should apply. Not sure about booking through a conference organizer, but I've had my status recognized through those stays as well.

Welcome to FT, felines3!

That applies to online travel agents (OTAs), but I've never had problems getting full benefits when booking through a conference organizer. Of course, that's completely up to the deal that they struck with the hotel(s).

Really?

I'm headed to a conference in 2018 and contacted the SPG hotel's reservations manager who confirmed I would receive full benefits and credit. So in my particular case, I'm set. But anything outside of official SPG channels ate not guaranteed benefits and that makes sense as often those rates are so low they negotiate out those benefits. If you want the best of both worlds, learn to submit Best Rate Guarantees which I've been hitting about 60% success rate with and netting rates 20% lower than the negotiated rates along with full benefits. Beat that.

The argument contra is the guest is not the rate: If you are a Plat, you should be treated as a Plat, regardless of booking channel.

Unfortunately, programs are increasingly following the "you are your rate" approach. Marriott is notable as a holdout.

More broadly, I agree with the comments upthread about the two programs (SPG and Marriott) having their pluses and minuses and no single feature makes one "better" than the other.

That misses the point entirely. Starwood was a much smaller company than Marriott with a lot smaller footprint in the middle of nowhere, USA. Loyalty was generated by getting people to always book through SPG channels with a very generous BRG to ensure that people book through those channels to get access to benefits. These benefits are paid for by the hotel getting a larger cut of the revenue than through a 3rd party channel. It is not the price paid by the customer alone that defines the benefits but the behavior pattern that needed to be cultivated to make it possible to offer those benefits. Remember that SPG required as few as 25 nights for top status while Marriott was 75. Also the BRG at Hyatt was a crap shoot at best.


If the hotel negotiates blocks of rooms for $30/night through a 3rd party and that channel charges the customer the same rate as the SPG site, the customer pays the same yet for the hotel and SPG it is far less profitable. Also, the next time the customer goes to that site, they are seeing 90+% of the options which are not SPG properties. It makes no sense to encourage a customer to wade through the competitors product on the off chance that a person will select a SPG option.

A person may make the mistake once of booking through a 3rd party site but won’t likely make the same mistake twice. They will be sure the they are booking a qualifying rate. You know that unlike basic economy with the airlines that any rate booked through SPG is eligible whether it is $25/night or $5,000/night.

The only reason to check a third party site was to apply for a BRG to get an even lower rate or a 2,000 point bonus. This policy made a lot of sense and generated a lot of loyalty to SPG. This way the customer, the hotel, and SPG all share in the benefits-rather than having all the benefits go to the 3rd party site.

Woop di doo, no status benefits unless you book direct- big whinge about nothing if you ask me. Plus the headline is almost insultingly misleading, SPG is one of the best programs out there and their hotels usually WAY better than the average Marriott. Just my two cents.

Each program has its pluses and minuses.

Starwood points are generally worth more in redemption and can be exchanged for airline miles at a better rate than Marriott Rewards points (unless you're using the Marriott travel package).

Marrott gives Gold elites more benefits than Starwood gives its Golds (in my experience). The chain also has more properties in some areas than does Starwood.

As to OP's issue, it may be the conference planner who has negotiated a special rate and negotiated away the points and perks in exchange for a lower (to the organizer) rate.

Congrats to you for learning some relevant program T&Cs before staying.

From a marketing perspective there is ample reason to advocate booking thru the firm's own booking channels: price control, CRM activities, ability to upsell room type... 'Encouraging' customers to book direct by limiting benefits is pretty logical. Third-party channels or third-party payment may be competing on price. (Marriott plays elements of the same game: free wifi for MR members when booking direct.)

Starwood is a terrible program. It is a fact that the earn and burn it bad and the customer service stinks the big one:

1. 3 points per dollar is weak whe you consider category 1 hotels start at 3,000 points. $1000 spend - a free night. At Marriott you get 15 points per dollar as a plat and free nights start at 7500. That means $500 in spend earns a free night. As you go up the category chain Marriott always makes more sense.

2. There are no Starwood hotels...good luck finding one in rural areas.

3. Promos stink and they will BITE you when you find out the hotel you stayed in doesn't participate. Marriott promos all hotels participate.

4. Breakfast at CY Marriott is not included but Aloft hotels has the worst food and beverage of any mid-range hotel. All heated up junk. Also if you want breakfast it will never be a full breakfast at SPG and will take the place of your check in points making the earn and burn even worse.

5. Calling SPG over the phone has been a disaster. Helpless people who have no common sense or are not empowered. I usually hang up with SPG wondering what happened.

6. I never find SPG properties are a good value for the money.

Then why are you even here in the SPG section? Don’t you have better places to spend your time?

+1 I can only assume this is a deliberate troll.

When I'm sitting in a multi thousand USD suite overlooking some amazing vista with a free bottle of champagne thanks to a short period of SPG travel it would never occur to me to describe SPG as "terrible". I've made enough from "stinking" promos in the last 2 months for 3 nights at a Marriott Cat 9 hotel which was selling for $450 a night.

Clearly Marriott makes it easier to earn lots of extra points and nights through bonuses, but I'm not convinced that the luxury recognition or lifestyle is as easily facilitated with the program. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

The quality of Aloft breakfasts doesn't really rate that highly in my priority list, but everyone is different.