Starwood recently posted the following promotion to Flyertalk:
Dear members,
I know there has been a lot of speculation and theories about SPG's Q2 promotion of late, and I'm excited to finally be able to announce what is planned! You're the first to get this information - SPG Free Weekends will kick off on May 1st and offer a Free Weekend Night Award for every eligible three stays through July 31, 2010 at any SPG property worldwide. There are no limits on the number of Awards you can earn. When you're ready to get away, you can use your Free Weekend Night Awards through December 19, 2010 at over 920 Category 1-6 hotels across all of our 9 brands -- like W, The Luxury Collection, and St Regis. And of course, there aren't any blackout dates on the Awards, and you can even combine them to use toward a long weekend or to extend a paid stay.
Go to spg.com/freeweekends(which will be put up in a few hours' time) to learn more about the promotion. We've included a full list of FAQ's. Registration will formally begin on May 1st.
Here is a simple summary I have prepared:
- 1(One) Free Weekend Night award for every 3(Three) eligible stays.
- Registration begins 1 May 2010 and ends 30 June 2010. Only 61 days, so do not miss the window.
- Earning period begins 1 May 2010 and ends 31 July 2010.
- Redemption period begins 7 May 2010 and ends 19 December 2010.
- Awards are redeemable only at Participating properties from Categories 1 to 6.
- Free Weekend nights refer to any Friday, Saturday or Sunday except for properties otherwise stated.
Finally, we are ready so fire away.
Thyetus Lee
Another late reminder on a Starwood promotion which started earlier this year.
Earn 2x, 3x or 4x the Starpoints on all your eligible stays.
Start out the year with rich rewards from SPG®, where the more nights you have in your stay, the more bonus Starpoints® you’ll earn. Receive double, triple or quadruple Starpoints
for every night of each eligible stay — with no limits — between
January 5 and April 15, 2010. For example, a three-night stay earns you
triple Starpoints on each night.
Better late than never.
If you’re staying at a Westin between now and May 13, 2010 then make sure you register before April 30, 2010 to take advantage of this promotion.
The conditions:
Register now and stay twice at a Westin® hotel in the U.S. or Canada by May 13, 2010, and you’ll receive a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card. Use it on the new Westin Wellness collection or on millions of other items at Amazon.com.
Be sure to register by April 30, 2010, and stay by May 13, 2010, arriving Sunday–Thursday, to qualify for this exceptional offer.
Valid for Starwood Preferred Guest members on new bookingsmade after registration.
This promotion has been in effect for a while, but it’s worth mentioning since free Internet is always a good thing. It’s only available to Starwood Platinum members and you don’t have to do anything to take advantage of it.
Here’s how it works:
- Log on to the Internet when you get to your room.
- If you receive a prompt asking you to accept the hotel’s Internet access charges, please accept them.
- Because you are a Platinum member, Internet access charges will be eliminated from your final hotel bill.2
The fine print:
Please note that in-hotel Platinum benefits, including complimentary Internet access, do not apply when
the reservation is pre-paid or booked through a third party.
A few Starwood members voiced concerns on how vulnerable the process appears to human error since the charges must be eliminated manually, but folks who have used it have not issues with it incorrectly appearing as a charge.
Looks good to me.
We’ve all seen the attempts at helping reduce waste at the hotel chains. At the Marriott, they have a nice placard explaining how much water is wasted due to laundry and politely ask customers to re-use towels by hanging them up.
A few fellow roadwarriors have noticed Starwood’s spin on green when they received a door tag on their desk with the following:
“You have the option to decline housekeeping service for the day. For helping us conserve natural resources, we are happy to offer you a $5 gift card for use at participating food and beverage outlets within our hotel or 500 SPG Starpoints redeemable at checkout”
At the W in San Francisco they are offering to purchase $5 worth of carbon credits for each day you forgo the housekeeping. Gift cards, carbon credits, and points are great incentives. More hotel chains should take note and offer something similar.
There’s a fair amount of chatter about this promotion among my fellow road warriors. On the surface it looks really good.
Promotion Details:
- Register for SPG Free Weekends now and start earning one Free Weekend Night Award with every two stays through July 31, 2009 — with no limits.
- Awards can be earned and redeemed at more than 875 Starwood Preferred Guest participating hotels and resorts worldwide across nine brands — including Westin, Sheraton, W and more.
- Redeem Awards at over 875 Category 1–6 properties any Friday, Saturday or Sunday night from May through the end of September 2009 — all with no blackout dates on available standard rooms.
- To earn one Free Weekend Night Award with every two stays, register and stay between May 1 and July 31, 2009.
A quote from a fellow road warrior:
“This is one of the best promotions ever I’ve seen Starwood run. The free nights are good at category 1-6 hotels (usually they only go up to cat-4 or occasionally cat-5), and the number of nights you can earn is unlimited (vs. usually capped at two or three).”
A closer look at the fine print in the FAQ (thanks *josh*):
Is there an expiration date for the Free Weekend Night Award?
Yes. The Free Weekend Night Award can be used through September 27, 2009.
It’s a really good promotion as long as you use it before the end of September.
Not to be outdone by the other hotels, Starwood has initiated their own promotion.
Sign up here.
Details from the website:
- An SPG member favorite is back and richer than ever. Earn nightly rewards with our SPG® Night After Night promotion. Register now and you’ll earn 500 bonus Starpoints® with each night, plus an additional 5,000 with every 10th night. That’s 10,000 bonus Starpoints every 10 nights — all to celebrate our 10th anniversary.
- One night here. Two nights there. Each individual night adds up to unlimited bonus Starpoints at any of our over 890 participating Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide through April 30, 2009.
- To earn bonus Starpoints with every night, register by March 31, 2009, and stay between January 7 and April 30, 2009.
Don’t stop - get it, get it.
Go ahead, pick your promotion! This offer allows you to select a promotion based on your travel needs. Asking for recommendations gives you a few guidelines for picking one which fits your needs.
Select the scenario that best fits you and we’ll help you choose the right reward options.
- I know I’m going to be traveling and want to shoot for elite status faster.
- I have a lot of stays coming up. I’d like to maximize my Starpoints® balance.
- I have travel plans and I’m interested in earning Free Night Awards toward future travel.
- I have one or two long trips planned and I want to maximize the amount of Starpoints I can earn.
- I’m new to the SPG® program and I would like to jump-start my Starpoints balance fast.
- Show me some rewards other than Starpoints for my stays.
SPG® You Choose allows you to choose and earn rich rewards when you stay at more than 890 participating Starwood hotels and resorts between October 1 and December 31, 2008. Simply make your choice and register by November 15, 2008.
Go crazy.
Better late than never. A snippet from the email has all the information you need:
To thank you, our elite members, we’re offering you 500 bonus Starpoints® per eligible night in September 2008. These bonus Starpoints are in addition to any bonuses for which you’re already registered.
Simply register by September 15, 2008, at http://SPG.com/thankyou500 and start collecting bonus Starpoints for all your September nights. Feel free to forward details to your friends and family so they can take advantage of this offer, too.
We know the airlines aren’t giving us any point perks so get ‘em while you can.
We’ve received a few SPG promotions recently. This promotion targets travelers to the Chicagoland area. Register here and start collecting your bonuses.
Terms and Conditions:
Come back to Chicago this summer – we’ll make it worth your while!
Register now to receive:
- 1,000 bonus Starpoints for every 1-night stay
- 2,500 bonus Starpoints for every 2-night stay
- 5,000 bonus Starpoints for every 3-night stay
Up to a total of 25,000 Starpoints!
Just register now and your points will be awarded automatically. Valid for stays now through September 30, 2008, seven days a week at hotels in downtown Chicago, at the airport and throughout the Chicagoland suburbs.
Don’t miss this special bonus Starpoints offer. Simply register now, and be sure to book online to get the best rates!
Might not apply with special rate codes, so let us know your experiences with this one.