Starwood Preferred Guest has published its 1st quarter 2010 hotel loyalty promotion called “More Nights = More Rewards”. The promotion title basically tells it all. Stays of one or two nights earn 2 bonus Starpoints per $1. Three night stays earn 4 bonus points per $1. Four night and longer stays earn 6 bonus points per $1. These bonus points are on top of base points and elite bonus points earned for stays.
My initial impression is this promotion is weak, unless you are a high spender or planning several 3+ night hotel stays during the promotional period.
The Offer:
Bonus is based on length of stay in consecutive nights at one individual hotel between January 5, 2010 and April 15, 2010.
1 or 2 night stays = Double Starpoints (total is 4 Starpoints/$1 for non-elites; 5 points per $1 elites)
3 night stay = Triple Starpoints (6 Starpoints non-elite; 7 Starpoints for Gold and Platinum elites)
4 or more nights = 4x Starpoints (8 Starpoints non-elite; 9 Starpoints for Gold and Platinum elites)
Registration is required between January 5 and March 31, 2010.
Registration link is not yet active. Promotion Information link is here.
850 properties are participating in this offer which means about 150 Starwood brand hotels are not participating in this offer. I looked through the Starwood hotel list, but I was unable to detect hotels missing from the list. You will need to check specifically for any hotel you are planning to visit.
Basically this is a promotion targeted for high spend and 3+ night frequent guest stays.
Spend $2,000 for a one-week beach vacation and you can be looking at 12,000 bonus points. Not a bad haul.
In comparison to the current 2009 Q4 promotion of 1,000 points per stay, to earn more than 1,000 bonus Starpoints requires your daily hotel charges to average in excess of:
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1 night stay = $500+ @ 2 bonus points per $1
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2 night stay = $250+ @ 2 bonus points per $1
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3 night stay = $84+ @ 4 bonus points per $1
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4 night stay = $42+ @ 6 bonus points per $1
This is a decent offer for persons planning longer multi-night stays. For this king of the one-night stand, this promotion has me looking elsewhere for greener pastures to graze for the winter months of 2010.
This promotion is combinable with other SPG promotions.
Perhaps there will be a replay of the 2009 Q1 “Night after Night” SPG promotion enhancement. Last winter SPG offered 500 bonus points per night and a 5,000 points bonus after 10 nights. Then, halfway through the four month promotion, SPG added an additional 500 points per night bonus. Members who stayed 10 nights during the first months of 2009 earned 1,500 bonus points per night.
The “More Nights=More Rewards” rules state this 2010 first quarter promotion is combinable with other Starpoints promotions. I’m hoping to see some other good offers make this deal a little more valuable for those of us with a pattern of short in and out hotel stays.
Loyalty Traveler promotion rating = 2 Keys (a bonus value if you play, but not necessarily worth going out of your way.)
Deal Alert for new members of Starwood Preferred Guest:
If you have never been a member of Starwood Preferred Guest, I have the ability to refer you to the SPG program and you will receive instant Gold Elite membership through February 2011. SPG Gold membership normally requires 10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year.
You will receive a promotional bonus of 1,000 points per night for stays through March 31, 2010.
This promotional offer requires that I submit your email address on a SPG Referral form and they will send you a new membership application by email. This offer is only valid for new members to SPG.
Send an email to me at ricgarridolt@gmail.com if you are interested in this referral offer.
Disclosure: I receive a one-time 1,000 bonus points reward if the referred member stays at least one night by March 31, 2010.
Related link: http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2009/11/20/my-midas-touch-gives-new-spg-members-starwood-preferred-guest-gold-elite/
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