I can’t take any credit for finding this Starwood promotion. A co-worker received the following email:
“Because you are one of our most valued guests w/ 25 stays or 50 nights at Starwood properties in 2007, we want to thank you for your continued loyalty. Enclosed is your exclusive gift of half off one Starpoints hotel redemption at any Category 1-5 property in the world – only for select members like you. Call your nearest Customer Contact Center to book by March 3, 2008, for 50% off one stay by May 31, 2008. Mention award ID 50PRG.”
This is an excellent promotion, if you can use it. Another Platinum member did not actually receive this email notification, but successfully booked a stay using the award id (50PRG) over the phone.
One last comment from another fellow co-worker which provides insight into the bigger picture:
“I believe this promotion was targeted for folks with SPG Platinum status. And word on FlyerTalk is that it was timed so that the top tier could take advantage of redemption opportunities before Starwood does their annual hotel level adjustments. A nice gesture for top-tier elites… before the likely not-so-nice gesture in raising point requirements.”
i.e., If you were waiting to redeem SPG points for hotel stays, might want to do it this month.”
Ouch. Starwood members, this looks like a point hike for redemptions is coming your way.
I’ve said this before, but it’s definitely worth repeating. Your points lose value whenever hotels and airlines need to cut costs just because they have total over what you can and cannot do with your points. There is no governing body ensuring us of the same redemption value as the time we earned them. More reason to look for more than points when traveling.
A co-worker recently pointed out a good option for redeeming your Diners Club points. It’s called the Tailored Travel Program and it offers a good exchange rate as well as cash in hand as opposed to certificates.
The premise of the program is that you use points to pay for any travel at the exchange of 80 points to a dollar. This includes anything related to travel such as hotel stays and car rentals. Diners Club leaves it up to you to determine what are travel expenses and what are not.
There is small print that points out a $5 handling fee when using the program, but the benefits are still pretty good.
You can compare this to other Diners Club programs that either provide you with merchant gift certificates at 100 points per dollar exchange rate or credit towards merchandise which is well over 100 points per dollar.
Maximize your points redemption and take advantage of the program!