Triangle Trip

Similar to the SPG 2009 Free Weekend Nights offer (see last year’s post as FYI), SPG is bringing back free weekend nights in 2010. Simply stay three (3) times at a Starwood property between May 1, 2010 to July 31, 2010 and you’ll earn a free weekend night. You must redeem your free SPG weekend nights by December 19, 2010. This year’s redemption process should be very similar to the 2009 SPG free weekend night redemption process.

Your 2010 SPG free weekend night should appear on your account 3 to 5 days after your third SPG stay. Keep in mind that “hotels stays” are not the total amount of nights you stay at a hotel. A “hotel stay” is every time you checkin to a hotel.

The 2010 SPG Free Weekend Nights offer is a bit less generous compared to the 2009 offer. The SPG 2009 Free Weekend offer only required two stays to get one free night vs. the 2010 offer. The good news is you can earn unlimited free weekend nights if you chose to check-in and check-out every night.

Here’s the official link to register and official FAQ page. You must register by June 30, 2010 to qualify.

I was recently redeemed my free SPG weekend nights (here’s the link to Big A‘s post on how to redeem your free SPG weekend nights) and want to let everyone know that the process was extremely smooth even thought I encountered a few hiccups along the way. Here’s my experience:

I rang Starwood’s customer service line to redeem my free weekend nights plus a five-night point redemption reservation, but found out that I was not properly enrolled. The customer service representative knew I was in a hurry and split my reservation into two reservations:  one for the free SPG weekend nights redemption and another for my SPG points redemption. The customer service representative also reassured me that he would make sure my free SPG weekend nights enrollment would be retroactive.

At the Sheraton front desk of my destination, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise:

1.  My SPG free weekend nights were made retroactive

2.  The Sheraton hotel (Category 6) I booked allowed me to redeem 4 nights using my SPG points, and gave me the 5th night for free

3.  I also got my Platinum choice award (I opted for the 500 bonus points of course)

In summary, Starwood’s worldclass service should be held as the standard for the travel industry. The US airline industry should look to Starwood for some guidance.

This is why hotel points are much better than airline miles — here’s a link to my previous post.