SPG Q-1 2012 Better by the Night only rewards longer stays

Starwood Preferred Guest launches its “Better by the Night” 2012-Q1 promotion on January 9 with double points for two night stays and triple points for longer stays through April 8, 2012. There are no bonus points for one night stays. There is no limit to bonus points members may earn with this offer.

Registration is required by March 15, 2012.

Loyalty Traveler Update Dec 29, 2011 9:45am Pacific time: SPG is screwing around with this promotion since it first appeared five days ago. The links were all working this morning when I posted this article and the links are now all dead. This has happened before during the last few days and I thought SPG finally had their promotion ducks all in a row when I decided to post this offer today. I registered for the offer today. SPG apparently is still not ready for members to see this offer as posted in this FlyerTalk thread December 27  by Starwood Lurker, the official SPG voice. Seems odd to me that all the promotion pages were up this morning two days after Starwood Lurker’s post, however, the links may not be live again until January 9, 2012.

This promotion is valid for about 70% of Starwood Hotels worldwide with all Asia-Pacific hotels opting out of this offer. About 50 hotels in the USA are not participating, so check the hotel exclusion list carefully when planning your stays so you are not surprised when your $1,000 3-night stay does not earn an anticipated 4,000 extra bonus points with the triple points offer. Germany, Italy and Greece have many nonparticipating Starwood Hotels. Link to hotels excluded from this offer.

All in all I am not that impressed by this offer. Spending $1,000 and only earning 4,000 bonus points is not appealing to me when I can get two free nights with Marriott Rewards after four stays or 10,000+ points on a cheap two-night weekend stay with Hilton HHonors. Spend based bonuses like this SPG offer leave minimal opportunity to leverage cheap stays into free nights like the Hilton and Marriott offers for Q1-2012.

SPG has a good offer for free weekend nights at Asia Pacific resorts with Two Days of Happy running through March 15, 2012. This SPG promotion earns one free night after five nights and two free nights after 9 nights when paying with MasterCard. There are over 200 hotels for earning free nights and nearly 90 resorts for redeeming free weekend nights by April 10, 2012. Nights do not need to be consecutive nights at the hotels. Five one-night stays at participating Starwood hotels will earn one free weekend night.

Fine Print Nuances for this Offer

Starwood’s FAQ for this promotion has an interesting term regarding a stay that includes a reward night on points or Cash & Points night combined with paid nights.

If part of my stay has an Award Night or a night using Cash & Points, will my stay qualify?

No.
Free Night Awards and Cash & Points are not Starpoints-eligible rates. Even if part of the stay is Award and part is paid, the member will not receive bonus credits for any part of the stay.

So you do not want to include a reward night within a paid consecutive nights stay at a Starwood Hotel. For example I read this as meaning if you booked a 5th night free reward from Sunday-Thursday followed by two paid nights on Friday and Saturday, then you will not receive double points for the Friday and Saturday night stay since these paid nights are part of the same stay as the 5th night free reward.

Other fine print:

• Bonus points will be earned for a Starwood Hotel stay started before January 9 if guest checks out after January 9. Double or triple points will be earned for entire stay. The same principle applies for stays having arrival date before April 8 and check-out after April 8. Double or triple points will apply to entire stay.
• Members who register by March 15, 2012 will receive retroactive credit for all eligible stays during the promotion period completed prior to registration.
• Members may receive double or triple points for up to two rooms as long as SPG member is one of the guests.
• Third night free and other extended stay rate discounts count all nights for this promotion according to Starwood Lurker on FlyerTalk since revenue is divided up between all nights.

Calculating Double and Triple Starpoints

• SPG members earn 2 Starpoints per US$1 as the base rate for earning Starpoints.
• SPG Gold and Platinum elite members earn 1 bonus Starpoint per $1.
• Double Starpoints = 4 points per US$1 total earning rate.
• Triple Starpoints = 6 points per $1 total earning rate.
• Elite member bonus is one additional point per $1 on top of the 2x/3x rate.
• SPG American Express cardmembers earn an additional 2 bonus points per US$1 if Starwood Hotel stay is paid using SPG AmEx card.

Excluded Hotels for SPG Better by the Night promotion

(Once again there are no city/state identifiers for hotels. As if it isn’t bad enough to have a large list of excluded hotels for a hotel loyalty promotion, the hotel loyalty programs expect SPG members to know the hotels by name and deduce the geographic location on your own!)

UNITED STATES

• Aloft Charlotte Ballantyne
• Aloft Frisco
• Aloft Las Colinas
• Aloft Milwaukee Downtown
• Aloft Phoenix-Airport
• Aloft Plano
• Cove Haven Resort
• Four Points by Sheraton Destin Fort Walton Beach
• Four Points by Sheraton Charlotte-Pineville
• Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway (Starwood has co-opted Canada into the USA!)
• Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton West (Starwood has co-opted Canada into the USA!)
• Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville Beach
• Four Points by Sheraton Louisville Airport
• Four Points by Sheraton Newark
• Four Points by Sheraton Punta Gorda Harborside
• Four Points by Sheraton Tallahassee Downtown
• Four Points by Sheraton Norwalk
• Four Points by Sheraton San Jose
• Lakeside Terrace Villas, Avon / Vail Valley
• Le Parker Méridien Palm Springs
• Paradise Stream Resort
• Pocono Palace Resort
• Sheraton Bellevue
• Sheraton Grand Sacramento
• Sheraton Mahwah Hotel
• Sheraton Metairie – New Orleans Hotel
• Sheraton Reston Hotel
• Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel
• Sheraton Suites Key West
• SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
• Sunset Key Guest Cottages
• The St. Regis Deer Valley
• The St. Regis Atlanta
• THE US GRANT
• The Westin Bellevue
• The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
• The Westin Edina Galleria
• The Westin Galleria Houston
• The Westin Houston, Memorial City
• The Westin Imagine Orlando
• The Westin Key West Resort Marina
• The Westin Los Angeles Airport
• The Westin Reston Heights
• The Westin Riverfront Mountain Villas
• The Westin South Coast Plaza
• The Westin Tampa Harbour Island
• Vistana’s Beach Club
• W San Diego
• W Silicon Valley
• Walt Disney World Dolphin
• Walt Disney World Swan

ALGERIA

• Le Méridien Oran Hotel & Conference Center
• Sheraton Oran

ARGENTINA

• Sheraton Mar del Plata

AUSTRALIA

• Four Points by Sheraton Geelong
• Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, Darling Harbour
• Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Resort
• Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa Gold Coast
• Sheraton Noosa Resort & Spa
• Sheraton on the Park
• The Westin Melbourne
• The Westin Sydney

AUSTRIA

• Schloss Fuschl, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg
• Sheraton Fuschlsee Salzburg Hotel Jagdhof

BANGLADESH

• The Westin Dhaka

BRAZIL

• Sheraton Barra
• Four Points Curitiba

CAMBODIA

• Le Méridien Angkor

CANADA

• Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon
• Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway
• Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton West

CHAD

• Le Méridien Chari

CHILE

• Sheraton Miramar

CHINA

• Aloft Beijing, Haidian
• Aloft Haiyang
• Aloft Nanhai, Foshan
• Aloft Yancheng
• Aloft Zhengzhou Shangjie
• Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian Hotel and Serviced Apartments
• Four Points by Sheraton Guangzhou, Dongpu
• Four Points by Sheraton Hainan, Sanya – Opening March 31, 2012
• Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou, Binjiang
• Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa
• Four Points by Sheraton Lianyungang
• Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Chengyang
• Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Daning
• Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Pudong
• Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen
• Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort – Opening January 1, 2012
• Four Points by Sheraton Suzhou
• Four Points by Sheraton Tai’an
• Four Points by Sheraton Taicang
• Four Points by Sheraton Yangzhou, Hanjiang – Opening March 31, 2012
• Le Méridien Chongqing, Nan’an
• Le Méridien Cyberport
• Le Méridien Qingdao
• Le Méridien She Shan Shanghai
• Le Méridien Shimei Bay Beach Resort & Spa
• Le Méridien Xiamen
• Le Royal Méridien Shanghai
• Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel
• Sheraton Changsha Hotel
• Sheraton Changzhou Wujin Hotel
• Sheraton Changzhou Xinbei Hotel
• Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel
• Sheraton Chongqing Hotel
• Sheraton Dameisha Resort, Shenzhen
• Sheraton Daqing Hotel
• Sheraton Dongguan Hotel
• Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel
• Sheraton Guangzhou Huadu Resort
• Sheraton Guilin Hotel
• Sheraton Guiyang Hotel
• Sheraton Haikou Resort
• Sheraton Hangzhou Wetland Park Resort
• Sheraton Hohhot Hotel
• Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers
• Sheraton Huizhou Beach Resort
• Sheraton Jiangyin Hotel
• Sheraton Jinan Hotel
• Sheraton Jinzhou Hotel
• Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort
• Sheraton Nanchang Hotel
• Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley Hotel & Towers
• Sheraton Nanning Hotel
• Sheraton Ningbo Hotel
• Sheraton Qiandao Lake Resort
• Sheraton Qingyuan Lion Lake Resort – Opening January 1, 2012
• Sheraton Sanya Haitang Bay Resort – Opening February 18, 2012
• Sheraton Sanya Resort
• Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel
• Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel
• Sheraton Shanghai Pudong Hotel & Residences
• Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel
• Sheraton Shenzhen Futian Hotel
• Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort
• Sheraton Shunde Hotel
• Sheraton Tianjin Binhai Hotel
• Sheraton Tianjin Hotel
• Sheraton Urumqi Hotel
• Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel
• Sheraton Wuxi Binhu Hotel
• Sheraton Xiamen Hotel
• Sheraton Xian Hotel
• Sheraton Xian North City Hotel
• Sheraton Yantai Golden Beach Resort – Opening February 20, 2012
• Sheraton Zhenjiang Hotel
• Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel
• Sheraton Zhoushan Hotel
• The Astor Hotel, Tianjin The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing
• The Royal Begonia, Sanya – Opening February 18, 2012
• The St. Regis Beijing
• The St. Regis Lhasa Resort
• The St. Regis Nanjing
• The St. Regis Shanghai
• The St. Regis Shenzhen
• The St. Regis Tianjin
• The Westin Beijing Chaoyang
• The Westin Beijing Financial Street
• The Westin Bund Center, Shanghai
• The Westin Changbaishan Resort – Opening April 30, 2012
• The Westin Fuzhou Minjiang
• The Westin Guangzhou
• The Westin Hefei Baohe
• The Westin Nanjing
• The Westin Ningbo – Opening January 1, 2012
• The Westin Pazhou
• The Westin Resort, Macau
• The Westin Shenzhen Nanshan
• The Westin Tianjin
• The Westin Wuhan Wuchang
• The Westin Xiamen – Opening February 23, 2012
• The Westin Xian
• W Hong Kong

COLOMBIA

• Four Points Cali
• Four Points Medellin

EGYPT

• Sheraton Cairo Hotel, Towers and Casino

EL SALVADOR

• Sheraton Presidente San Salvador

FIJI

• Sheraton Denarau Villas
• Sheraton Fiji Resort
• The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa, Fiji

FRANCE

• Prince de Galles, Paris

GERMANY

• Four Points by Sheraton Muenchen Olympiapark
• Four Points by Sheraton Muenchen Central
• Four Points by Sheraton Brauneck
• Le Méridien Grand Hotel Nuernberg
• Dom Hotel
• Le Méridien Parkhotel Frankfurt
• Le Méridien Munich
• Le Méridien Stuttgart
• Sheraton Frankfurt Congress Hotel
• Sheraton Offenbach Hotel
• Sheraton Munich Arabellapark Hotel
• Sheraton Munich Westpark Hotel
• Sheraton Munich Airport Hotel
• Arabella Sheraton Alpenhotel
• Sheraton Essen Hotel
• Sheraton Hanover Pelikan Hotel
• The Westin Grand Frankfurt
• The Westin Grand Munich
• The Westin Grand Hotel Berlin
• The Westin Bellevue Dresden

GREECE

• Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens
• Vedema Resort
• Blue Palace Luxury Collection Resort and Spa
• Mystique, Santorini
• The Romanos, Costa Navarino
• Santa Marina Resort & Villas, Mykonos
• Sheraton Rhodes Resort
• The Westin Resort, Costa Navarino

HUNGARY

• Le Méridien Budapest

INDIA

• Aloft Ahmedabad, SG Road – Opening February 1, 2012
• Aloft Bengaluru Whitefield
• Aloft Chandigarh Zirakpur – Opening February 1, 2012
• Aloft Chennai, OMR – IT Expressway
• Aloft Coimbatore Singanallur
• Four Points by Sheraton Hotel & Serviced Apartments, Pune
• Four Points by Sheraton Jaipur, City Square
• Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi
• Four Points by Sheraton Visakhapatnam
• ITC Grand Central, Mumbai
• ITC Grand Chola, Chennai – Opening February 1, 2012
• ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad
• ITC Maratha, Mumbai
• ITC Maurya, New Delhi
• ITC Mughal, Agra
• ITC Rajputana, Jaipur
• ITC Royal Gardenia, Bengaluru
• ITC Sonar, Kolkata
• ITC Windsor, Bengaluru
• Le Méridien Ahmedabad
• Le Méridien Bangalore
• Le Méridien Coimbatore
• Le Méridien Jaipur
• Le Méridien Kochi
• Le Méridien New Delhi
• Le Méridien Pune
• Le Royal Méridien Chennai
• Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway
• Sheraton New Delhi Hotel
• Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers, Chennai
• Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort & Spa
• The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi
• The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace
• The Westin Mumbai Garden City
• The Westin Pune Koregaon Park
• The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa

INDONESIA

• The Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali
• Keraton at The Plaza, Jakarta – Opening February 15, 2012
• Le Méridien Jakarta
• Sheraton Bandara Hotel
• Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers
• Sheraton Lampung Hotel
• Sheraton Media Hotel & Towers
• Sheraton Mustika Yogyakarta Resort and Spa
• Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort
• Sheraton Surabaya Hotel & Towers
• The St. Regis Bali Resort
• The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali
• W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak

IRELAND

• Sheraton Athlone Hotel

ITALY

• Gritti Palace
• Hotel Pitrizza, Costa Smeralda
• Hotel Romazzino, Costa Smeralda
• Hotel Cala di Volpe, Costa Smeralda
• Sheraton Diana Majestic
• The Westin Palace Milan

JAPAN

• Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers
• Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort
• Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel
• Sheraton Hiroshima Hotel
• Sheraton Miyako Hotel, Osaka
• Sheraton Sapporo Hotel
• The St. Regis Osaka
• The Westin Awaji Island Resort and Conference Center
• The Westin Miyako, Kyoto
• The Westin Nagoya Castle
• The Westin Osaka
• The Westin Sendai
• Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers

JORDAN

• Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel & Towers

LEBANON

• Four Points by Sheraton Bhamdoun
• Four Points by Sheraton Le Verdun

LITHUANIA

• Le Méridien Vilnius

MALAYSIA

• Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu
• Four Points by Sheraton Kuching
• Four Points by Sheraton Langkawi Resort
• Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur
• Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel
• Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort
• The Andaman, Langkawi
• The Westin Kuala Lumpur
• The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa

MALDIVES, REPUBLIC OF

• Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa
• W Retreat & Spa – Maldives

MAURITIUS

• The Grand Mauritian Resort & Spa

MEXICO

• Sheraton Ambassador Monterrey

NEW CALDONIA

• Le Méridien Ile des Pins
• Le Méridien Nouméa

NIGERIA

• Sheraton Lagos Hotel

OMAN

• Sheraton Oman Hotel

PAKISTAN

• Sheraton Karachi Hotel

RUSSIA

• Le Méridien Moscow Country Club

SAUDI ARABIA

• Le Méridien Jeddah
• Sheraton Jeddah Hotel
• Sheraton Riyadh Hotel & Towers
• Sheraton Dammam Hotel & Towers
• The Westin Jeddah

SINGAPORE

• Sheraton Towers Singapore
• The St. Regis Singapore

SOUTH KOREA

• Sheraton Grande Walkerhill
• Sheraton Incheon Hotel
• Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel
• The Westin Chosun, Busan
• The Westin Chosun, Seoul
• W Seoul – Walkerhill

SPAIN

• Hotel Maria Cristina, San Sebastian
• Castillo Hotel Son Vida, Palma de Mallorca
• Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville
• Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf Hotel
• Sheraton La Caleta Resort & Spa
• St. Regis Mardavall, Mallorca

SWITZERLAND

• Hotel President Wilson

SYRIA

• Le Méridien Lattakia
• Sheraton Aleppo Hotel
• Sheraton Ma’aret Sednaya Hotel & Resort
• Sheraton Damascus Hotel

TAIWAN

• Four Points by Sheraton Chung Ho, Taipei
• Le Méridien Taipei
• Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel, Taiwan
• Sheraton Taipei Hotel
• The Westin Taipei
• W Taipei

THAILAND

• Aloft Bangkok
• Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sukhumvit 15
• Le Méridien Bangkok
• Le Méridien Chiang Mai
• Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort, Thailand
• Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort
• Le Méridien Koh Samui Resort & Spa
• Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort
• Le Méridien Suvarnabhumi Golf Resort & Spa
• Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel
• Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers
• Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok
• Sheraton Hua Hin Resort & Spa
• Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort
• Sheraton Pattaya Resort
• The Naka Island, Phuket
• The St. Regis Bangkok
• The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok
• The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket
• W Retreat Koh Samui

TURKEY

• Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler
• Sheraton Ankara Hotel and Convention Center
• Lugal, A Luxury Collection Hotel Ankara
• Sheraton Cesme

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

• Four Points by Sheraton Sheikh Zayed Road
• Le Méridien Dubai
• Le Méridien Fairway
• Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina
• Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa
• Le Méridien Al Aqah Beach Resort
• Grosvenor House
• Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel and Towers
• The St. Regis Abu Dhabi
• The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina

UNITED KINGDOM

• The Lanesborough, a St. Regis Hotel

URUGUAY

• Sheraton Colonia

VIETNAM

• Sheraton Hanoi Hotel
• Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa
• Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers

YEMEN

• Sheraton Sana’a Hotel