November 17 is the last day for the Better Tomorrows offer (see related Loyalty Traveler links from October 13 Better Tomorrows post and November 17 Analysis of Better Tomorrows – One Month Later), but this promotion is being followed by the Sheraton and Four Points College Football Fans Invited 50% off 2nd night sale. The hotel selection for the College Football sale is reduced to these two Sheraton brands and reservations are being accepted through March 31, 2009. The sale seems to have little to do with College Football as San Francisco isn’t really much of a college football game city location and most of the reservations timeframe is well after college football season.
Promotion: College Football Fans 50% off 2nd Night at participating Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton hotels in USA.
· Special Rate Code = ZBT
· Booking Deadline: None stated
· Reservations Period: now through March 31, 2009 and requires a Thursday through Saturday night arrival.
This promotion has lots of technical glitches on my computer when I have searched for sale rates over the past couple of days. On Saturday, Nov 15, the website kept flashing and reloading every couple of seconds and the unstable visual imagery was annoying. Fortunately, that glitch stopped when I checked the website on Sunday.
The real issue is the advertisement for 50% off the second night for participating Sheraton Hotels.
I looked up California and the Carlsbad Sheraton Resort and Spa listed as a San Diego hotel in the California City choices.
Carlsbad Sheraton is a participating hotel in Football Fans Invited Promotion
The Carlsbad Sheraton says “valid for arrival any Thursday –Saturday. When I click on the “Book Now” link I am redirected to the standard “Save 20% on a two-night stay” promotional page for “Z2R” resort multiple night stay discounts that has been an ongoing promotion throughout 2008.
This webpage is not correct link for Football Fans Invited promotion
Mathematically, 20% off a two night stay is equivalent to a 40% discount on the second night, whereas, the Football Fans Invited promotion states a 50% discount for the second night applies.
What’s up Starwood?
My 50% off rate should give me a total room rate of $199 for the first night and $99.50 for the second night for a total of $299.50. The 20% off rate gives me a two night stay rate of $318.40.
Starwood is overcharging $18.90 for this two night stay compared to the advertised promotional rate of 50% off the second night.
The links for the California hotel options are messed up. Some hotels show no discount page and go directly to the regular booking page for Sheraton (Sheraton Petaluma), some hotels feed into the 20% off a two-night stay (Sheraton Carlsbad, San Francisco Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf), and some hotels feed into the “Better Tomorrows” promotion booking page and work (Sheraton La Jolla, Sheraton Pasadena) and some hotels feed into a “ZBT” booking page that responds with the message “We are sorry, but that promotion code is not available for the dates selected.”, regardless of the dates I try.
The promotion works for some hotels in California and worked for hotels in three other states I searched and found the second night at 50% off, however, the working links feed into the “Better Tomorrows” rate page which is the 50% off the second night promotion for all Starwood brands ending today, November 17.
Whether these links will work tomorrow remains to be seen.
