Starwood Preferred Guest- Upgrades, Free Rooms and More!!

I am a frequent traveler and have become accustomed to certain standards while traveling.  I have found that by giving particular hotels and hotel brands my loyalty, they have in turn returned the favor (most of the time).  I have long been a fan of Starwood hotels, especially since they introduced the Heavenly Bed and Bath at Westin Hotels.  A comfy bed and luxurious bath towels are definitely a nice departure from ugly bedspreads with colors even the tackiest decorators couldn’t imagine.  In being a faithful patron of the Starwood brand of hotels, I have been ever so kindly rewarded with free nights, upgrades and even gift certificates!  Definitely the best way to travel, at least in my book!

Starwood hotels is a world-wide hotel brand that includes several different chains of hotels, all with varying levels of service.  They include Westin, W, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, St. Regis and The Luxury Collection.  I typically frequent Westin Hotels and Sheraton Hotels the most, but have had nothing but positive experiences with Four Points and W Hotels as well.  In fact, I think that W is my favorite hotel brand to stay in ever!

There are three different levels of membership.  The first level is open to anyone and everyone who wants to join.  All you have to do is go to their website and register.  There is no membership fee, so if you plan on staying at any Starwood hotel, it is definitely a good idea to sign up.  Just by being a member, you can earn points, similar to frequent flier miles.  You will earn two points for every dollar spent.  Some hotels have special Starwood Preferred Guest rooms that have free bottles of water. 

Gold level is the next level up from a regular Starwood Preferred Guest member.  You can attain this status after 10 stays or 25 nights, whichever occurs sooner.  Benefits to being a Gold Level Starwood Preferred Guest include room upgrades (when available, of course), 50% bonus over regular membership (3 points per dollar spent), late checkout (when available) at 4:00 p.m. and smaller benefits such as a dedicated customer service phone number for gold members, check cashing privileges and a lower point threshold should you choose to convert your points into miles.

A Platinum Preferred Guest receives all the same benefits as a gold member, as well as an automatic upgrade to the best room (available), “Platinum Concierge”, which is simply a dedicated customer service line, but they do occasionally go above and beyond for me, and a special amenity upon check-in.  The special gift is usually the choice between a free in-room movie, a bucket of beer and popcorn, $10 credit towards the minibar or 500 SPG points.  As I usually expense my meals and am happy enough with HBO, I opt for the points most of the time.  Sometimes hotels offer gifts unique to their hotel.  When I stayed at the W French Quarter in New Orleans, I opted for a signature gift, which was a ball cap with their logo, I thought it was kind of cool.  You will also be granted access to club lounges and fitness facilities (at hotels where it is normally a charge), all for 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year.

Achieving this status is very rewarding, especially if you travel frequently.  I really enjoy the room upgrade perks, but also like the ability to earn even more points faster.  There is always a preferred check in line at the front desk, which can save a lot of time if there is a long line of people waiting to check in.  While I sometimes feel guilty about using taking advantage of this perk, I also travel often enough to the same hotels, that it’s nice to be valued as a customer.  My reservations and information is in their system to be facilitated more quickly, so don’t worry if you see me “cutting in line” ahead of you, chances are, I will be taken care of quickly. 

In order to qualify for elite status, the minimum number of hotel stays (or nights) must be completed within a calendar year.  Several times I have found myself coming up a few days or stays short of the next level.  Unless you stay in hotels for long periods of time, the number of stays is probably the easiest way to achieve elite status.  In order to bump myself up, I have in the past made two reservations for one hotel, booking one night and then a separate reservation for the same hotel the following night.  I did have to change rooms once, but for the future benefits, it was worth it! 

Other than actually staying at a Starwood hotel, there are several other ways to earn SPG points.  The SPG web site has a great deal of information on this, but it’s important to keep an eye out for special offers, as they randomly have double points offers and online booking bonuses, for example.  I have earned many extra points by booking hotel reservations directly on the SPG website.  They usually offer 500 bonus points, which adds up really quickly, if you book several reservations during the promotion period.  If you have a Starwood American Express credit card, you can earn 1 SPG point per dollar spent on the card, plus bonus points if you use the card at Starwood properties.  Several online merchants will also offer points, such as FTD.com and Ameritrade.  These offers vary, but they function very similarly to airline frequent flier memberships.  While earning points does not change your elite status level, they will definitely help when looking to book free hotel stays.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Program also allows you to combine points with another member.  If you and your spouse both travel frequently, you can combine your points for one long rewarding (and surely well deserved) vacation.  If a family member does not stay often enough to earn enough points for free nights, they can transfer points to you.  This is a great way to maximize benefits without compromise.

Starwood gives you many different options to redeem your points, which I really like because not every travelers needs are the same.  The obvious choice (for me at least) is to redeem points for free stays.  The points required for free nights depends on the category of the hotel you wish to stay at, but generally, the lower the cost of the hotel, the lower the amount of points required for a free night’s stay.  To stay at a Four Points by Sheraton, generally the amount of points required for a free night is 2000 to 3000 points.  To stay at the W Hotel in Montreal, it will cost you 10,000 points.  As long as you have enough points in your account and there is a room available, you are free to get a free room.  There are no “blackout” dates per se, so if you book far enough in advance, you will be sure to get a reservation without a problem. 

Points can also be used towards room upgrades (1000 points per night), free movies and other instant rewards once you have checked in.  For 1000 points, you can also get 50% off the rack rate of a room for the duration of your stay (up to 5 days), which I have used only once, otherwise, the discounted or “best available” rates are usually less than the 50% off.  You can redeem points for gift cards and other services, but it is much less than a dollar for point exchange, so it may not be a good deal to use points this way unless you have no plans to redeem in any other manor. 

As the Starwood Preferred Guest program is similar to frequent flier programs, those who have vested interests in earning airline miles will be glad to know that SPG points can be converted to airline miles and if you transfer 20,000 SPG points to miles, you will actually earn 5,000 bonus miles!  The best deal that I have heard yet though is the nights and flights program, where for 50,000 points, you can get 5 free nights and 50,000 airline miles, enough for two free tickets by most airline standards.  For a 4 star hotel or higher, 60,000 points is required, but still, it’s like getting a two for one!  Most major airlines will accept the points to miles conversion, but before putting all your eggs in one basket, it would be wise to double check.  I know that US Airways Dividend Miles and Delta’s Skymiles programs both accept SPG points. 

Of course, all hotel points programs are going to try to convince you that one is better than another.  As an elite member of both Marriott and Hilton chain hotels, so far my experience with the Starwood Preferred Guest program has been far more rewarding.  Take for example a two night stay at a hotel that is $150 per night.  That’s $300 total, or 900 points (as a Platinum member), plus 500 bonus points for booking online (assuming the promotion is going on), 500 points as my “Platinum Amenity” and already, I have 1900 points.  That’s only 100 points away from a free night at a category one hotel.  Not bad for only one stay.  If there was a triple points promotion, I might even be in better luck! 

Redeeming points is easy, booking hotel rooms and checking availability is easy and earning points is easy- a simple program that is rewarding is the most I can ask for of a hotel loyalty program and the Starwood Preferred Guest program has all that.  I have enjoyed more free nights than I can count on both hands over the past few years and the recognition and benefits I receive go a long way with me