Use Starpoints for flights -- SPG Flights
Sep 2, 2008, 2:52 am
#16
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Shanghai and Bavaria
Programs: Spire RA, 1865 Voyager, Bonvoy Titanium, FB LP, LH SEN.
Posts: 3,104
I, for one, think the hype was overblown - SPG Flights doesn't fly in my book. [Sorry, William!]
i. Guaranteed suite upgrade (YES! YES! YES!).
ii. Complimentary 'Free Night' suite stay certificate when achieving PLA.
iii. Early check-in, say, 8:00 am for elites.
Your inputs, pls!
i. Guaranteed suite upgrade (YES! YES! YES!).
ii. Complimentary 'Free Night' suite stay certificate when achieving PLA.
iii. Early check-in, say, 8:00 am for elites.
Your inputs, pls!
I suggest ... become an InterContinental Royal Ambassador:
- Guaranteed upgrade at check-in, usually to suites (or executive rooms)
- Complimentary week-end voucher
- Guaranteed 8 a.m. check-in and guaranteed 4 pm check-out.
If the suite is not available at 8 a.m., you get another room until your upgrade is ready...
- Unfortunatelly, there are only a few InterContinental hotels and a lot more Starwoods ...
Sep 2, 2008, 2:55 am
#17
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Manchester, England
Programs: Bonvoy LT Plat, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, BMI Gold (RIP)
Posts: 8,019
).Also, as there could be questions across multiple threads, any way to make it easier for the Lurkers to keep up with this and respond is appropriate in my book. By default you can argue that any response from either of them is 'corporate follow-up' but for most people I suspect they just see it as well received help.
Sep 2, 2008, 3:18 am
#18
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: South Africa
Posts: 86
Utterly ridiculous. Many hotels in the Starwood chain have few or no suites, and even those that DO have suites don't necessarily have enough to accommodate all the Plats staying there at a given time. Unless you think they are going to rebuild all their 800+ hotels with fewer regular rooms and more suites, or are somehow going to build you a brand new suite on the spot, this ain't gonna happen.<Shrug> Maybe. Some sort of gift might be appropriate for reaching Plat.
If you want this as a GUARANTEED benefit, I'd say it's almost as ridiculous as expecting guaranteed suites. If the hotel is full, how can they possibly accommodate this request, unless the prior occupant of the room checks out exceedingly early AND housekeeping has a chance to clean it? Sometimes one CAN check in that early, but it's only if space is available. So in a practical sense, I doubt this will happen as a guarantee.
Typical pie-in-the-sky FT expectations, with no consideration given to the practicalities.
I believe in the audacity for change - hence my suggestions.
Clearly a logical person on planet earth would conclude that if a hotel does not have a suite, then the guest should be getting the best available room. And if an early 8:00 am check-in out is not possible, the next available time-slot should be given.
Anyways, that's the problem nowadays: the inability to think out-of-the-box. Or to think, period.
Sep 2, 2008, 3:27 am
#19
Join Date: Oct 2006
Programs: Mileage Plus Premier, BA Blue, Starwood Gold
Posts: 10
Just did a dummy booking for LHR-IAD, Business Class
295,000 points required for both BA, all in (fees, surcharges etc)
However, if using points transferred to BA, only 80,000 points required (= 100K miles with the SPG transfer bonus). However, you still have to pay the full whack for fees and surcharges on BA redemption bookings, say Ł300.
Also, i'm not sure what fare buckets the SPG flights are booked in. If they are booked in a paid-fare bucket then it may be worthwhile to part with the 295k points on flights where award redemption availability is zero - otherwise I really don't see the point
Still, i guess the new service is better than a poke in the eye (economy flights seem to be much more reasonable, but I am with those who never ever use points/miles on Y bookings)
295,000 points required for both BA, all in (fees, surcharges etc)
However, if using points transferred to BA, only 80,000 points required (= 100K miles with the SPG transfer bonus). However, you still have to pay the full whack for fees and surcharges on BA redemption bookings, say Ł300.
Also, i'm not sure what fare buckets the SPG flights are booked in. If they are booked in a paid-fare bucket then it may be worthwhile to part with the 295k points on flights where award redemption availability is zero - otherwise I really don't see the point
Still, i guess the new service is better than a poke in the eye (economy flights seem to be much more reasonable, but I am with those who never ever use points/miles on Y bookings)
Sep 2, 2008, 3:57 am
#20
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: South Africa
Posts: 86
Been working out dummy bookings on www.spg.com/flights too - all options given turn out to be a waste of points.
For example:
SIN - DPS (i.e. Bali) worked out to 65,000 points for a return on SQ in Y. However, 65,000 points - on the SPG airline transfer (exchange 2:1) - gives 32,500 Krisflyer miles. That figure in the Krisflyer program gives TWO return flights in Y! With 7,500 miles to spare!
[Dates used in the comparisons are the same].
For example:
SIN - DPS (i.e. Bali) worked out to 65,000 points for a return on SQ in Y. However, 65,000 points - on the SPG airline transfer (exchange 2:1) - gives 32,500 Krisflyer miles. That figure in the Krisflyer program gives TWO return flights in Y! With 7,500 miles to spare!
[Dates used in the comparisons are the same].
Sep 2, 2008, 4:03 am
#21
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Australia
Programs: QF,VS,SQ,SPG,IC
Posts: 796
My hope was for free breakfast at hotels without a club lounge.
Sep 2, 2008, 4:37 am
#22
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
Programs: AA EXP; Marriott Lifetime / Annual Titanium; Massively Missing Starwood
Posts: 5,337
Utterly ridiculous. Many hotels in the Starwood chain have few or no suites, and even those that DO have suites don't necessarily have enough to accommodate all the Plats staying there at a given time. Unless you think they are going to rebuild all their 800+ hotels with fewer regular rooms and more suites, or are somehow going to build you a brand new suite on the spot, this ain't gonna happen.<Shrug> Maybe. Some sort of gift might be appropriate for reaching Plat.
If you want this as a GUARANTEED benefit, I'd say it's almost as ridiculous as expecting guaranteed suites. If the hotel is full, how can they possibly accommodate this request, unless the prior occupant of the room checks out exceedingly early AND housekeeping has a chance to clean it? Sometimes one CAN check in that early, but it's only if space is available. So in a practical sense, I doubt this will happen as a guarantee.
Typical pie-in-the-sky FT expectations, with no consideration given to the practicalities.
Sep 2, 2008, 4:47 am
#23
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: In a plane over Europe; I mean in the back of a plane over Europe !!!
Programs: HHonors, Scandic, Priority Club, Marriott, AF/KL FB, BAEC, AB TB, LH M&M
Posts: 860
Let me suggest the 2X1 o 4X2 of Goldpointsplus.
Not just one per year, but up to two rooms per each single weekend of the year !
Sep 2, 2008, 4:48 am
#24
Join Date: Apr 2007
Programs: SPG Gold, Priority Club Ambassador, HHonors Gold, Krisflyer
Posts: 39
You mean that's it? Bummer! What a let down.
Sep 2, 2008, 5:08 am
#25
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: San Jose
Programs: UA 1K, SPG Platinum, Marriott Gold
Posts: 24
Aha... if this was the big announcement....not worth making so much noise 
. Most of the travelers already have enough miles from their airlines which are much better for airline tickets.
. Most of the travelers already have enough miles from their airlines which are much better for airline tickets.
Sep 2, 2008, 5:14 am
#26
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: *wood Plat, PC Plat RA, Shangri-la Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 116
Sep 2, 2008, 6:12 am
#27
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,155
As a random data point (which I happen to need to book for next week) 30k points for Sydney/Brisbane return on Qantas, which started out looking fairly expensive, but it..
* Includes all taxes
* Still gets FF points with the airline
This makes it exactly the same price (at a 1:1 conversion rate) as using direct points on Qantas - but it's for "all" seats, not just limited availability as per the normal FF rates.
("same" based on QFF for that same route being 14,000 each way including tax = 28,000, but you also get 2,000 QFF points with SPG which you don't with the airline itself - and yes, I know transfer to QFF no longer exists)
* Includes all taxes
* Still gets FF points with the airline
This makes it exactly the same price (at a 1:1 conversion rate) as using direct points on Qantas - but it's for "all" seats, not just limited availability as per the normal FF rates.
("same" based on QFF for that same route being 14,000 each way including tax = 28,000, but you also get 2,000 QFF points with SPG which you don't with the airline itself - and yes, I know transfer to QFF no longer exists)
Sep 2, 2008, 6:19 am
#28
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
Programs: AA EXP; Marriott Lifetime / Annual Titanium; Massively Missing Starwood
Posts: 5,337
I think I'll free up a spot on the conference call since this would appear to be the big announcement.
I applaud Starwood and SPG for adding this.
I doubt that I would ever use it personally as I value my points at a higher level...using them only in Europe at category 6 and above hotels. Combined with my good fortune of scoring suites, they are worth far too much to me to use on this.
Someone mentioned that it will likely reduce demand for rooms in a prior post. That is likely and that will be good for the rest of us.
It makes me wonder...are there a lot of people with huge volumes of points out there? While they are easier to earn than say Hyatt points, they aren't quite as easy as some other chains. I'd think this would be a good play for SPG if they are looking to reduce liability of the points but that surprises me if there is a huge number of people with huge point balances.
Anyway, good addition and I'm sure it will come in very handy for many people.
I applaud Starwood and SPG for adding this.
I doubt that I would ever use it personally as I value my points at a higher level...using them only in Europe at category 6 and above hotels. Combined with my good fortune of scoring suites, they are worth far too much to me to use on this.
Someone mentioned that it will likely reduce demand for rooms in a prior post. That is likely and that will be good for the rest of us.
It makes me wonder...are there a lot of people with huge volumes of points out there? While they are easier to earn than say Hyatt points, they aren't quite as easy as some other chains. I'd think this would be a good play for SPG if they are looking to reduce liability of the points but that surprises me if there is a huge number of people with huge point balances.
Anyway, good addition and I'm sure it will come in very handy for many people.
Sep 2, 2008, 6:23 am
#29
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: From: PWM
Programs: United GS, Fairmont Platinum,SPG LTPlat, Hilton Diamond, MarriottGold..like the rest of the world
Posts: 4,401
This is a GOOD THING
I just did some checking on a route I need to fly in December for the holidays and it's 35000 "all in" on spgflights, but 50000 at Delta and USAirways along with their delightful ticketing charges and redemption fees.
They were clear on the call that this was NOT for everyone, but an added choice that would work well for some. Don't be so quick to discard it -- I see this as a solid enhancement to the program.
Sep 2, 2008, 6:23 am
#30
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
Programs: AA EXP; Marriott Lifetime / Annual Titanium; Massively Missing Starwood
Posts: 5,337
Let's take it easy on our friends from Starwood and SPG.