Making "Cents" Out of Points for Budget Travelers

Posts in category Starwood

SPG App Now Available For Android

Oct31st
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

SPG members who use an Android smartphone can now take advantage of the 500 bonus points offer for the SPG Better by the Night promotion. The SPG Android app was released yesterday for the Google Play store and a Starwood representative on FlyerTalk has confirmed that reservations with the new app will be eligible to earn the bonus points.

Hopefully you haven’t made too many reservations under this promotion so far. There is still plenty of time to make a few reservations and grab a few bonus points.

Reviews of the app have been mixed so far. While most agree that the app has great visuals, there have been reports of missing or incorrect stay dates for existing reservations. Starwood representatives have mentioned that logging in and out of the app could possibly remedy this issue.

As someone who uses an Android phone, it’s nice to finally have the app available. It seems most apps these days are available first, or are more polished, for iOS. But that’s another story for another day….

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SPG Q4 2012 Promotion – Better by the Night

Oct17th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

SPG’s fourth quarter promotion is now live. From October 1 through December 20, 2012, you’ll earn double Starpoints on stays of one or two nights, and triple Starpoints on stays of three nights or more. Registration is required by November 30. Stays that are booked before October 1, and stays that occur before registration but fall in the promotion window, are eligible to receive the bonus points.

In addition to the double and triple points offers, you can also earn more Starpoints when you book through SPG booking channels or when you check-in via social media.

When you make a reservation through the SPG App for iPhone, you’ll earn 500 bonus Starpoints. When you make a reservation through SPG.com, you’ll earn 250 bonus Starpoints.

For the social media bonus, you’ll earn 250 bonus Starpoints when you check-in on foursquare. However, you can’t just check-in to receive the bonus. You have to link your SPG and foursquare accounts first.

The bonus points for reservations and the social media check-ins really help pad your earnings. If you’re mattress running and looking for cheap one night stays, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to earn more bonus points via checking-in on foursquare or making your reservation than you will by actually staying at the hotel.

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Get 100 Starpoints and a Chance to Win 100K Starpoints

May17th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

SPG has announced their You Like Us, We Like You Back Promotion on Facebook where you’ll receive 100 Starpoints just for registering for the promotion. By registering, you’ll also be entered into the random drawing to win one of 10 prizes of 100,000 Starpoints.

Registration begins today and ends at 11:59pm EDT on May 23, 2012. Limit one entry per person. You’ll only need to enter your name, email address and SPG number (to receive your points).

Terms & conditions can be found here.

Good luck!

 

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A Closer Look at SPG’s Best Rate Guarantee Options

May4th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

I’m a big believer in using a hotel program’s Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) program to help reduce costs. Not only can you get a lower rate, you’re rewarded in some fashion for finding that lower rate outside of a hotel’s normal booking channel. Now you have additional incentive to shop around before booking.

Like the new SPG Nice Choice promotion, SPG’s BRG program offers you a choice if you find a lower rate somewhere else. You can choose to either receive 2,000 Starpoints and have the rate matched, or receive an additional 10 percent off of the lower rate.

For the budget traveler, finding a BRG and taking the 2,000 Starpoints can be very beneficial if you’re doing one-night stays. Using a 2.5 cent valuation for Starpoints, you’re looking at approximately $50 worth of points. On a one night stay with a sub-$100 rate, the 2,000 points pays for more than half of your stay. At the same time, you’re also padding your account balance. With SPG’s Cash and Points redemption you can stretch your points even further. Redemption values with Cash and Points are often well over 4 cents per point.

If you’re looking at taking an additional 10 percent off of your rate, it’s probably better used on a multi-night stay. For the 10 percent off to equal the $50 in Starpoints, that means you’d be paying $500 for a hotel room. If that’s the case, you’re probably not too worried about saving $50. So for a multi-night stay, add up your daily savings to get your total room cost and see how the math works out for you. SPG will compare based on the total room cost.

READ MORE »

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SPG Nice Choice Promotion is Now Live

May1st
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

The SPG Nice Choice promotion is now open for registration. It looks like the rumored details that were leaked are 100 percent true. Here are the details for you:

Earnings Periods

  • May 1 – July 31
  • June 1 – August 31
  • July 1 – September 30

Starpoints

  • Earn double Starpoints beginning with the 2nd stay (no earnings limits)
  • Get 3,000 Starpoints every 6 nights (maximum 9,000 Starpoints/18 nights)
  • Earn triple Starpoints when you stay 15 nights (no earnings limits)
  • Earn 500 Starpoints per night at Sheraton Hotels & Resorts when you book online (no earnings limits)

Free Nights & Redemption Awards

  • Get 1 free weekend night when you stay 10 nights (free night is limited to category 1-5 hotels with a maximum of 2 free nights/20 nights)
  • Get a 25 percent off redemption award when you stay 20 nights (two awards maximum/40 nights)

Merchandise Discounts

  • Get a $50 SPG Award Certificate every 4 nights (maximum 3 awards/12 nights)
  • Get a $50 or €50 Westin at Home™ Collection Discount Code every 4 nights (maximum 3 codes/12 nights)
  • Get a $50 or €50 Sheraton at Home™ Collection Discount Code every 4 nights (maximum 3 codes/12 nights)

Elite Night Credit

  • Earn 1 bonus Elite Qualifying Night every 5 nights (maximum 3 elite nights/15 nights)
  • Earn 3 bonus Elite Qualifying Nights every 10 nights (maximum 6 bonus nights/20 nights)

READ MORE »

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Unconfirmed Details About SPG Nice Choice Promotion

Apr23rd
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

There was a lot of buzz over the weekend as unconfirmed details of SPG’s upcoming Nice Choice promotion were leaked. The initial reaction is underwhelming given all of the marketing hype SPG put into this promotion. Here’s a look at the details that were posted on FlyerTalk:

Choose your own earning period (You can only choose one)

May- July
June- August
July- September

Choose whatever you want to earn during (You can only choose one)

Starpoints
Awards (Free Nights & Redemption discounts)
Merchandise discounts
Elite Credit

*There is no switching of registration codes or earning periods after registration. No exceptions.
* Registration from May 1- June 30, 2012

Here is a summary of the offers:

Starpoints Offers

Double Points beginning with 2nd stay. No limits.
Every 6 nights, get 3k Starpoints (max of 9k)
Earn 500 bonus Starpoints per night at Sheratons worldwide (no limits). Online-bookings ONLY
Stay 15 nights, get Triple Starpoints on all stays retroactively. No limits.

Awards Offers

10 nights, get 1 Free Weekend Night (cat 1-5). Max of 2 Awards. Weekends are Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun.
Stay 20 nights, get 1 25% percent off redemption Award (cat 1-5). Max of 2 Awards

Merchandise Awards -

Stay 4 nights; get US$50 SPG Award Cert (max of 3)
Stay 4 nights; get $50 or EUR50 Westin @ home discount code (max of 3)
Stay 4 nights, get $50 or EUR50 Sheraton @ home discount code (max of 3)

Elite status

Stay 5 nights, earn 1 bonus night toward elite status (max of 3 elite qualifying nights).
Stay 10 nights, earn 3 bonus nights toward elite status (max of 6 nights).

READ MORE »

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SPG Releases More Details About Nice Choice Promotion

Apr20th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

We’re just 10 days away from the start of SPG’s Nice Choice promotion. They’ve released another round of updates that shed some more light on the promotion. Here’s their most recent update via their Facebook page:

Nice news: You know when, so let’s share some SPG Nice Choice promo offer details. You’ll have 11 different options, something for every traveler. Starpoints. Free Nights. Merchandise Discounts. Elite Credit. One option: Double Starpoints beginning with 2nd stay. No limits. Register May 1st at spg.com/nicechoice

Of the items in this list, free nights and elite credit are the most intriguing. We still need to figure out what needs to be done to achieve these bonuses so it’s not unreasonable to expect at least one more update.

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