AZ Travels the World

As reported in this 'big announcement' thread, Starwood Preferred Guest is launching SPG Flights, which enables SPG members to use Starpoints to book airline tickets.

The Starpoint cost of the ticket is based upon the dollar value. Tickets are booked "as cash tickets" from the airline's perspective -- not as award tickets -- and can be booked in economy, business and first class -- domestic as well as international. Most major airlines are included in the program.

Find out more at www.spgflights.com.

GIJ

Good place to burn starpoints

rdchen

Looks like the value will be <$.02/point, not a good option unless you have tons of points to burn.

Martinsu

Thx for your information.

Martinsu

I agreed, it only worth $0.01 - 0.015/ point, it's not a good option, but this idea really good.

Braindrain

Wow. All the speculation but the announcement fizzled out?

droder1

i just realized they make no effort in hiding the redemption value, chart posted on the front page.

How many Starpoints?

Ticket Price* Starpoints
up to $150 10,000
$150-$215 15,000
$215-$280 20,000
$280-$345 25,000
$345-$410 30,000
$410-$475 35,000
$475-$540 40,000
$540-$605 45,000
$605-$670 50,000
$670-$735 55,000
$735-$800 60,000
$800-$865 65,000
$865-$930 70,000
$930-$995 75,000
$995-$1060 80,000

lesmiz99

I, for one, think the hype was overblown - SPG Flights doesn't fly in my book. [Sorry, William!]

Why? Because the points conversion is a poor deal. And many FTs have a couple of frequent flyer programs that accord them elite status/benefits and discount redemption so using SPG points for flights is a much less attractive option.

ANYWAYS ... the discussion over what was the new major SPG initiative got
me thinking we need to compile a top three wishlist of what needs to be done if SPG want to sweep the Freddies ever again.

SO ... here's my top three:

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!

KathyWdrf

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.

orsum

SPG is perfect as it stands.
well, it could be improved upon slightly by making the plat threshold 60 nights per year instead of the current 50.

Football Fan

It's an interesting concept. But I'd much rather use the points for great hotels.

Leads me to another question regarding Nights and Flights - is it possible that redemption opportunities for this are much more scarce in Europe than in the US?

DCBob

I agree completely. What on earth was the OP smoking to expect a GUARANTEE of a suite and 8 AM check-in? It's still amazing to me that 4 PM check-in is guaranteed for non-resort and non-conference locations.

Starwood Lurker II

Hi AZ Travels the World,

Thank you for starting the thread. I do foresee(and it has already started) that members would start creating their own threads just to bring their points across.

Would it be possible to combine them into one thread so that we can follow up on any enquiries with regards to this program?

Thank you.

[email protected]

phb

I'm all for combining threads for the purpose of readability and ease of following for FT contributers.

I'm not sure that Starwood reps should be requesting this for the purpose of corporate follow up (unless FT has become a formal Starwood market research programme).

Starwood Lurker II

Hi phb,

Sorry if my intention has been misinterpreted. I hope that I would not miss out on any questions by members which is the main reason I purpose to combine the threads.

As for the feedback to the program, keep them coming because they might be useful someday.

[email protected]