Abstract1

Hello..im fairly new to this programme and i was hoping to get a couple of things clarified if you don't mind.

1. When i hit gold, is it another 25 nights for platinum? And does this also have to be done before December if i am to go into 2010 with Plat status?

2. If i get gold but not platinum before Dec 09 do i go back down to regular level in jan? If not is it then valid for the whole of next year?

Thank you very much ^

Abstract1

Starwood Lurker

If this is being earned via nights rather than stays, yes.

Yes.

If you earn status at this time of the year, you will have it until February 28, 2011.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

3Cforme

Just in case you were thinking that you got comped to Gold so Plat is just an incremental 25 nights away, that's not how it works. Back to Lurker!

mahasamatman

I didn't think the time of year mattered for earned status.

Starwood Lurker

It would if you earned it before the end of February. Then, it would come with a next February expiration date.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

mahasamatman

Interesting. So Starwood is actively discouraging people from staying too much in January and February? I'll have to remember to always postpone that 10th stay until March or later.

Starwood Lurker

I guess I'm missing the discouragement part. No matter what, you get a full year. Some get more, depending upon when they earn. Would it be fair to only give someone 9 months if they earned it later in the year. Now, to me, that would be discouraging people.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

mahasamatman

If I get/renew status on 28 February, I get one year. If I get/renew status on 01 March, I get two years. That's active discouragement to get/renew status early (or you could consider it active encouragement to delay achieving/renewing status, but they're really the same thing). It means you should never do 10 stays in the first two months of the year - always hold something back.

This gets even worse if you already have status. Let's say I'm Gold now through 2011. If I have 10-24 stays in January/February 2010, I get absolutely no benefit whatsoever. But if I push one of those stays to 01 March or later, I get another full year of status!

kaychen

Earning timeframe is the calendar year (Jan1-Dec31 2009).
Doesn't matter what level you hold in 2009.
If you stay 25 nights in 2009, you will be Gold starting the time you reach the 25 nights, through all of 2010, into Feb 2011.
If you stay 50 nights in 2009, you will be Platinum starting the time you reach the 50 nights for that calendar year, through all of 2010, into Feb 2011.

Same policy applies whether you are currently general Preferred guest, Gold, or Platinum.

mahasamatman

That's what I always thought, too. But Starwood Lurker, who is the official voice of Starwood on FlyerTalk, says otherwise.

ldsant

No he's not saying otherwise; you're just wanting to read what you want imo.

To the OP - there is a great thread about status that you can find as one of the master threads. Also, it's 25 STAYS or 50 NIGHTS for Platinum status.

mahasamatman

Read post #5. It can't get any clearer than that. He explicitly states that if you earn status by the end of February 2009, your status lasts until February 2010, not February 2011.

myperks

I agree with mahasamatman's assessment of what SL said in post #5. maybe there is some misunderstanding somewhere.

socalplat

I have been a Platinum Member for 4 years now. Let me try to sum it up this way:

1. Your earning period begins Jan 1 and continues through Dec 31. If your stay originates before Dec 31 and ends Jan 1 or 2 (ex. New Years Eve) your stay will be credited to the year in which it originated.

2. If you are an existing Plat, your benefits will continue for the existing year and until 2/28 of the following year. Even if you have stays in Jan or Feb those are counted toward earning your Plat status for that calender year which ends on Dec 31.

3. If you are a Plat in 09 and earn your Plat status for 2010, your Plat benefits will continue until Feb 2011.

4. If you are new Plat. your benefits begin right away and can be used until the end of the year and the following year. You have earned your Plat membership that is valid for the entire following year. (ex. you earned Plat status in Nov 08, you will have Plat status for the rest of 08, all of 09 and until Feb 2010.

5. Starwood extends Plat status for 2 additional months (for a total of 14). Just because your benefits can be received until 2/28 doesn't mean you continue to earn stays from the previous year until 2/28. Your stays are calculated on a annual basis Jan 1 to Dec 31. Any stays posted in Jan or Feb will be credited toward your total stays for that calendar year and not the previous year.

AZ Travels the World

I agree. It's been my understanding that the good old fashioned way of earning a level of status by staying 25 times or 50 nights is based upon the calendar year -- period.

Any time you earn a new level of status, you are elevated to it for the remainder of that year and the following program year, which ends on Feb. 28 of the year after that.

I understand that if you are comp'd status from another program, how much of the year has passed determines whether your comp'd status lasts just until the remainder of that year (until Feb. 28 of the following), or all of the following year (until Feb. 28 of the year after that).

Perhaps that's the misunderstanding here? The difference between earning with all the required stays/nights vs. some type of comp or fast-track promo?

Otherwise, as mahasamatman has pointed out, you would lose an entire year of status by earning your 25 stays in January and February, as opposed to earning even one of those 25 after March 1. Given that the qualifying period for earning status is the full calendar year, that end-of-Feb. distinction shouldn't matter.