You have 3 days so register now if you’re a Starwood Preferred Guest. Simply register and stay at participating Starwood hotels or resorts between May 1 and May 31, 2008.
You have two choices in how you’ll earn your 10,000 bonus Starpoints:
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Earn 2,000 bonus Starpoints with every two eligible stays (up to 10 eligible stays and 10,000 bonus Starpoints).
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Or, earn 2,000 bonus Starpoints with every four eligible nights (up to 20 eligible nights and 10,000 bonus Starpoints).
Get your points, but don’t live for them.
Alright, so the title is a bit extravagant, but you’ll have to blame that on Starwood marketing. Who are they kidding? It’s just more points for doing what we already do.
Sign up here - it only takes about 30 seconds. Here’s the participating hotel list if you want to verify it fits with your travel schedule before signing up.
The Details:
Congratulations!
You are now registered to receive 500 bonus Starpoints® each night, up to 1,500 Starpoints points per stay, at participating Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, and Westin hotels and resorts for stays Sunday through Thursday nights from April 1 through May 31, 2008. Please present your Starwood Preferred Guest® card or membership number at the hotel upon check-in to ensure your stay earns the bonus.
Happy travels.
If you haven’t done so already, then register right now! It only takes a few seconds and it just requires your starwood preferred guest number and the associated email address.
The promotion may be different for each person. My promotion message was:
Congratulations — you are now registered.
You have successfully registered for this Starwood Preferred Guest® promotion. You will now earn 8,000 bonus Starpoints® with every eight eligible stays (up to 24 stays and 24,000 total bonus Starpoints) between March 1 and May 31, 2008.
Someone else received:
You have successfully registered for this Starwood Preferred Guest® promotion. When you book between February 15 and March 15, 2008, for stays between March 1 and March 31, 2008, you can earn: * 2,000 bonus Starpoints® with two eligible stays * 4,000 bonus Starpoints® with four eligible stays * 6,000 bonus Starpoints® with six eligible stays
Good luck and happy travels. Remember travel life is more than points.
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 helpful reader recently visited a dated link on a previous More Than Points article and discovered this promotion at Starwood!
Once he signed up, he was given immediate Gold Preferred status with a simple requirement! Unfortunately, it looks like the date just passed, but see if it still works for you.
The sign-up message, our reader received is as follows:
Experience the difference Gold makes.
We’re delighted you’re accepting the offer to sample elite status with a Gold Preferred Guest® trial membership. Here’s how to take advantage of the exclusive benefits and preferential treatment of Gold status soon — and how to extend the experience for as long as possible:
Register by January 15, 2008.
Stay just once between December 1, 2007, and February 29, 2008, and you’ll instantly achieve Gold status through February 28, 2009.
Register today and the sooner you stay, the sooner you’ll take advantage of all that Gold status has to offer.
Thanks, Derek and good luck!
If you’re staying at one of Starwood’s many properties, don’t forget to register for this bonus.
Once registered you will receive: * 1000 bonus points for your first stay * 2000 bonus points for your second stay * 3000 bonus points for your third stay
up to 6000 additional points for your 6th stay. From what I can tell, the only catch is it needs to be at the SAME hotel. Remember a single “stay” is defined as a set of consecutive days, not the number of nights.
Promo lasts between now and March 31st 2008 so sign up and start earning.
Starwood is running their quarterly promotion and the beauty is you get to pick what you want.
Pick one of the following options for stays between December 1, 2007, and February 29, 2008:
- Earn up to 8,000 bonus Starpoints®. With every two eligible stays, you’ll earn 2,000 bonus Starpoints (up to eight stays and 8,000 total bonus Starpoints).
- Earn double stays toward elite status. For example, if you stay three times, you’ll receive credit for six stays toward elite-level status (Gold status typically requires 10 stays or 25 nights within a calendar year; Platinum 25 stays or 50 nights).
- Earn double Starpoints on all your stays. That’s four Starpoints for every eligible U.S. dollar spent.
If you’re going to stay away from home, make the most points you can.
Based on your current status or points, you’ll get a different Starwood promotion.
Go ahead – you just need your membership number.
In this case, it is all about the points.
Register here for triple Starwood points when you book at any of the following properties:
PHOENIX, AZ
- Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa
- The Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa
- Sheraton Crescent Hotel
- Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel Tempe
- Four Points by Sheraton Phoenix Metrocenter
SCOTTSDALE, AZ
- The Phoenician
- The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
TUCSON, AZ
- The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa
- Sheraton Tucson Hotel & Suites
- Four Points by Sheraton Tucson University Plaza
AUSTIN, TX
- Sheraton Austin Hotel
DALLAS, TX
- Sheraton Suites Market Center
- The Westin Dallas Fort Worth Airport
- The Westin Park Central
- The Westin Stonebriar Resort, North Dallas
HOUSTON, TX
- Four Points by Sheraton Houston Southwest
- Sheraton Suites Houston Near the Galleria
- The Westin Galleria Houston
- The Westin Oaks Houston
SAN ANTONIO, TX
- Sheraton Gunter Hotel San Antonio
- The Westin La Cantera Resort, San Antonio
- The Westin Riverwalk
Here are the key terms and conditions:
- Offer is valid for stays booked between May 15, 2007 and June 30, 2007 and completed between May 15, 2007 and September 3, 2007.
- Double Starpoints are only eligible for stays Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.
- Triple Starpoints are only eligible for stays Friday, Saturday or Sunday. For stays that include weekday and weekend nights, triple points offer will take precedence.
- A maximum of 25,000 bonus Starpoints per member may be earned for this offer.
Read the full terms and conditions for additional details.
This past weekend, I received an interesting promotion in the mail. At first glance, it appeared to be from United. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the Starwood Preferred Guest in the lower left-hand corner in addition to the United Mileage Plus in the lower right-hand corner.
Inside was a Starwood Preferred Guest Gold membership card valid until 02/29/2008 requesting me to sign-up at http://spg.com/UAGold369. Please note, this promotion won’t do you any good unless you received it in the mail or perhaps, reached a certain United status (read on).
I used to be a Starwood Platinum member, but working at a client for a year without a nearby Starwood hotel forced me to become a Marriott Platinum member instead. This free Gold status upgrade was quite a pleasant surprise.
YOU CAN NOW EARN MORE MILEAGE PLUS® BONUS MILES WITH STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST. Congratulations! You have successfully registered for this Starwood Preferred Guest® promotion. You can now enjoy elite Gold Preferred Guest® status through February 2008. You’ll also earn 3,000 Mileage Plus bonus miles for every three eligible nights you stay at Starwood hotels and resorts through July 31, 2007, for a total of up to 9,000 bonus miles.
I found the catch in the terms and conditions:
Offer is valid for new SPG members only. Offer is valid for recipient of this mail piece only and is non-transferable. Offer is void for employees of Starwood Hotels & Resorts and United Airlines. To receive the Mileage Plus® miles, recipient must participate in the Airline Direct DepositSM program. With Airline Direct Deposit, Starpoints® earned from eligible hotel stays and select bonus offers will be converted automatically into Mileage Plus miles, will be credited to your Mileage Plus account and may not be transferred back to your SPG account. Gold Preferred Guest® membership is valid through February 2008.
This promotion was totally unrelated to my current Starwood membership. Upon attempting to register with my existing membership number, I received a message:
THIS STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST PROMOTION IS UNAVAILABLE. We’re sorry; you are not currently eligible for this United Mileage Plus® bonus miles and Starwood Preferred Guest® elite status promotion. Please visit SPG.com to view other special offers and promotions.
As a United Premier Executive member, I can only conclude this promotion is offered to United Mileage Plus members with a certain status. It sets you up with an entirely new SPG account that automatically converts stays into mileage points as opposed to Starwood points.
Ah well, if I end up staying at a Starwood, it may be worth it to start with the new account (even with the United mileage caveat) since I’m only a regular Starwood Corporate Guest on my original account. Then again, it’s only 10 days to become Gold status.
It’s interesting to note how the various companies are working directly together.