jfulcher

I've spent most of the year with hilton - 24 nights w/ SPG this year and 68 with Hilton. I at least get promos from Hilton. I'll at least hit 50 this year, but that will be it unless I get some promos.

TechBoy

I didn't make platinum because I stayed at other chains because of valuable promos. If SPG had given me promos that were in the ballpark of the other promos, I certainly would have stuck with SPG properties. Alas, the promos were not there.

Life as a gold is not that bad. I would like the amenity points, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be any significant difference to me. (I will admit that I don't really care that much about suite upgrades when I'm on business. I may miss it on some personal travel, but I'm comfortable with the choice I've made.)

SportsTech

Amen to everything here. I don't need a suite on biz travel, I'm never in my room anyway. My travel is a day here, a day there, 30-40% on the road...who needs a suite for an overnight? Point-gathering promotions, on the other hand, have persistent value to me - and I haven't gotten any offers so far this year (how did I get lucky enough to be assigned to the permanent "Control Group"?) so I'm looking around for decent alternatives that are more rewarding. SPG Execs, hear this: THERE'S NO GOOD REASON TO TARGET PAY-FOR-PLAY PROMO'S. They're either profitable, or they aren't...and there's no return on the $'s that walk away PO'd.

hockeyfan

Techboy,
I'm the same as you...have spent 40+ nights at hilton hotels in the past 4 months because of the promos that I have received
haven't stayed at at *wood since December
if the promos will help me in the end with status and points for personal travel later on, that is the route I will go

flyingdagger

Have been platinum for the past 5 years, and will qualify for 2006 when I hit 50 nights at the end of June. At that point, I will probably go and stay at the Marriott down the street - not because of a promotion, but because of some of the following reasons:

1. It has a concierge floor, and the Westin I stay at does not.
2. Marriott has a good point earning rate for Gold/Platinums - combined w/ Visa card, point earnings are great.
3. I have a ton of SPG points, and the standard earnings rate sans promotion is not all too enticing. If I can earn more through promotion, than that changes the equation.
4. Marriott has some rewards I've been eyeing, so I need to build up my balance with them.

Just to give my perspective on SPG using targetted promotions to drum up new business vs. rewarding loyalty, this may have worked before when information such as what is contained on FT was not readily available to the masses. When loyal customers get wind of promotions and are informed that they do not qualify, that, in my book, is a negative thing as it sends the wrong message to what are arguably the most important customers for *Wood. To me, it seems like it would negate the benefits from any new business it may drum up.

Personally, I have 32 nights of reservations with SPG from now until the beginning of August (maybe that is why I don't qualify for the promotion ). Perhaps if I cancel them all, I will qualify for then? Seriously, SPG should not alienate the customer base which they depend on to "keep the lights on". If they think that they have me on such a leash that I would not dare bolt to Marriott or Hilton, they may need to re-examine that. It seems that they have already booked my revenue before I've stayed, so to speak - but nothing in business is guaranteed. Sorry for this semi-rant.

troyintn

Hilton is the same way. I am shifting a lot of my stays to SPG. will make Plat next week or two. Already made Diamond with hilton, but why keep going to the same place for nothng. I average 4 nights a week in a hotel, I can get status anywhere.

TrojanHorse

Hmm have two stays YTD (excluding an award stay) and still can't find any reason to stay at an SPG property as the other three major chains have kept me hooked via promos. I have a couple stays booked for the next month at SPG props but those are really just placeholders for 1. maybe I can find an SPG promo I'm eligible for and 2. till I can decide which Marriott props I can stay at for the 3 stay/5K bonus up to 25,000 bonus points which follows the stay 20 nights and get a 30,000 bonus point promo. Its a no brainer right now to not stay at spg properties.. At a certain point in time this year, a decision will have to be made whether I even bother to keep spg as a preferred chain if the others keep me coming back with bonuses. Ironically what makes this funny is, if I decided to bolt spg, I would be willing to bet I'll get the double stay credit promo next year to regain plat status.. doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose.. just sign me up now for bonuses.. and you won't have to give me the 2X stay credit next year

imverge

You mention something also important Marriott has a concierge floor! Some European Starwood Hotels do not even have a lounge! I know it may sound petty but recently I stayed at The London Park Lane and breakfast was $42 USD! and The Westin Palace Madrid breakfast was $40USD! Both hotels were for a ten night leisure stay so breakfast charges really add up! Stayed at Lisbon Marriott with lounge breakfast $0 NADA, ZERO!

So for me it is not just about the promo's... but if I know I can bank extra bonus points... then that's the little extra push I need to stay with that chain!

That chain this summer is Marriott! It's still not too late SPG to get a summer promo out there! Depending on the bonus I might come back

Letisko

I should've known this thread would generate controversy when I started it I guess what I don't get, though, is why we all feel like we should recieve every single promotion that Starwood offers. I'm not sure why I recieved the triple points offer (though I'm certainly not complaining), but it probably has something to do with the fact that I'm a gold customer and they want to capture more of my business. Likewise, because I'm a gold customer I didn't recieve other promos, like the 25% off rewards stays Freddie promo. I'm just pointing this out because it seems like most of the posters who are upset that they didn't get this offer are not other golds who are annoyed at the randomness but are platinum members who are annoyed that golds could recieve offers that the important platinums don't.

I'm not saying that the system is perfect or that the plats don't have a right to be upset when they give Starwood lots of business and feel taken for granted in return, but what is wrong with a company offering separate promotions to rewards loyal customers versus to get new ones or get a larger share of business from customers who are less loyal? There's a strange dynamic on this board that when someone posts that they recieved an offer we all react like "how dare they give you an offer and not me?!" Again, I totally get that people feel SPG doesn't reward loyal customers enough (and am in no way saying that I agree or disagree with their current strategy), but this somehow gets extended into us all feeling like we're being treated unfairly because other groups recieve offers that we don't. The bottom line is that they're running a business so we won't all get every great offer to come along. If you have a better deal with Marriot that's great - we're all on this board in part because we value the deals - but don't leave SPG out of spite. . .

Just my random rambling observations to avoid dealing with the stack of expense reports that's build up on my desk over the past month

bers

I got it and I'm in Australia.

FWIW it worked with me. I was going to divert plenty of nights (4 nights per week till end of September) to Hyatt to take advantage of an Australia/NZ promo they've got going at the moment but instead they'll get all my stays until the end of the promotion. Of course its going to cost them 50,000 bonus points in the process but I'm sure it works out fine for them.

mo8y

70 stays this year with the next three months booked. No promo. Maybe I should cancel the reservations so I can get a something to try to "welcome me back."

DallasBill

Zero stays for me this year and the link said I did not qualify for the promo.

So, clearly, the qualification for this promo is somewhere in between 50+ stays and "who the h#ll are you?!"