Hotel Loyalty 2012-Q4 promotions Starwood Hotels Starwood Preferred Guest

Starwood 5 nights earns 5,000 Aeroplan miles and Starpoints Sep 10-Dec 9, 2012

Starwood is one month into a three month promotion to earn 5,000 Aeroplan miles for 5 Starwood Hotel nights anywhere worldwide from September 10 to December 9, 2012. Earn an additional 3,000 miles for 8,000 Aeroplan miles if 3 of 5 nights are in Starwood Hotels in Canada. Aeroplan bonus miles promotion registration is required.

  • Stay 3 nights = earn 3,000 Aeroplan miles.
  • Stay 5 nights = earn 5,000 Aeroplan miles.
  • Stay 5 nights with 3 nights in Canadian Starwood Hotels = 8,000 total Aeroplan miles.

You can earn one of these bonuses for 3,000 or 5,000 or 8,000 miles. They are not cumulative bonuses. Terms state Aeroplan miles will post a month or two after promotion ends.

I just signed up for this offer yesterday. Too much fun traveling around New York and Spain to keep up on all the deals this past month.

SPG ran similar promotions the past couple of years for frequent flyer miles. These are truly bonus miles since you earn Starpoints normally during the promotion and you still can earn the ‘Better by the Night’ double and triple points for stays from October 1-December 20, 2012. Better by the Night promotion registration deadline is November 30. Here is a link to my Loyalty Traveler post on SPG Better by the Night written way back on August 23, 2012.

The 500 points per Starwood reservation booking using the iPhone app is a generous bonus. Unfortunately for those of us not working in the iPhone world, the online booking bonus is only 250 points for reservations made on spg.com. The FourSquare check-in for 250 points is another angle for bonus points.

Earnings Analysis for Starwood Stays

Sheraton $100 night earns:

  • 1,000 Aeroplan miles (assuming you stay 3 or 5 nights total for miles).
  • 500 Starpoints using iPhone app to book stay.
  • 250 Starpoints for linking and check-in with FourSquare at hotel.
  • 400 Starpoints for Double points on a $100 1-night stay.
  • 100 Starpoints Gold/Platinum Elite bonus.

1,250 Starpoints and 1,000 Aeroplan miles on a $100 1-night stay.

Five 1-night stays at $500 = 5,000 Aeroplan miles + 6,250 Starpoints. That is about a 50% rebate value with $150+ in Starpoints redemption value and $75 to $120 in miles value, particularly if you can get the 8,000 miles with a Canadian Starwood Hotel stay.

SPG has a history of giving the double dip miles and points.

I picked up something like 16,000 miles in 2009 when SPG ran a Northwest miles bonus for hotel stays concurrently with their 2 stays = 1 free weekend night at Category 6 hotels promotion. I picked up Starpoints, free nights and frequent flyer miles on numerous stays with about 35% of my bookings also earning a 2,000 points Best Rate Guarantee bonus.

So sign up and get 5,000 Aeroplan miles for Starwood Hotel stays worldwide, or stay in Canada if possible for 8,000 miles, without sacrificing Starpoints earning for your hotel stays from September 10 to December 9, 2012.

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Bonus Aeroplan Miles with Starwood

 

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

 

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10 Comments

  • Martin October 10, 2012

    Hi Ric,
    small question: Who is Aeroplan and what could I do with these miles? Would it be possible to convert them back into starpoints?

    Btw. could you also explain once what “Best rate guarantee” actually means?

    This year, I already booked three times via the “Beat the Timer”-Code, which saved me A LOT of money in contrast to the “Best Rate” offered on the respective Hotel Website. So how can they claim it as their best rate, if it actually isn’t?

    If I knew any better code than the one from “beat the timer” maybe I would even save more money (in Germany obviously none of the Z3H, Z3R, Z4H, Z4R etc. is working) 🙁

    Thanks, Martin

  • Christel October 11, 2012

    Would you happen to know if the third (free) night from SPG’s California Weekends promo counts towards the night totals?

  • Ric Garrido October 12, 2012

    3-for-2 night (Third night free) rates with Starwood divide the rate over three nights and count for points earning and 3 nights for promotions based on nights.

  • Tank Chen October 14, 2012

    Hello,

    Sorry, where does the 1000 aeroplan miles come from in the earning analysis? Is that the 5 nights at $100/night at double the earning rate per dollar spent?

    Great blog you have here!

  • Ric Garrido October 14, 2012

    @Tank Chen – You have to stay 3 nights to earn 3,000 Aeroplan miles or 5 nights to earn 5,000 Aeroplan miles.

    My breakdown of points and miles earned on 1 night showing 1,000 Aeroplan miles assumes you complete at least 3 nights during the promotion to earn 3,000 miles after 3 nights.

    Stay in Canada for 3 nights and this increases to 2,000 miles per night plus points.

  • Ric Garrido October 14, 2012

    @Martin – Beat the Timer offers some great rate discounts that are hard to beat.

    Best Rate Guarantee only applies to rates found on non-Starwood online booking sites. For example, you can’t apply a best rate guarantee based on a Starwood 3-for-2 rate.

    Click “Best Rate Guarantee” in the category on the left side of the page and you will find several articles where I explain in detail how I find BRG rates.

    Basically I check Kayak.com and filter for Starwood Hotels in a city. I open spg.com and look at the rates for the same city.

    Frequently I find Kayak.com shows a lower rate than spg.com. I compare the room types and if they look the same with same cancellation policies, then I apply for a Best Rate Guarantee with Starwood Hotels.

    http://www.starwoodhotels.com/bestrate/index.html

    There is no need to actually book the Starwood Hotel room first. Hyatt is the only other hotel chain that allows a member to file a BRG claim without first booking the room.

    The BRG form allows you to get 2,000 Starpoints or 10% off the lower room rate. I usually take the Starpoints since the 10% savings is generally less than $20 for my claims.

    You submit the claim form and wait for a response in 24 to 48 hours. The main reason for a claim not being approved is the third party online site corrects the rate discrepancy before the BRG claim is validated.

    I think about 4 out of 5 of my claims are approved. I submit several claims a year.

  • Tank Chen October 14, 2012

    Ok. Never mind.
    1000 aeroplan miles for each of the 3 or 5 nights stayed. Got it :p

  • Chris October 25, 2012

    When I first looked at this, I overlooked the double dip possibilities and ignored the promotion. Looking at it again, I’m disappointed that I just had a string of Starwood stays and I hadn’t registered. Any idea if it’s retroactive? (The T&C don’t seem to mention anything in either direction.)

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