Triangle Trip

Following my previous post in regards to SPG Free Weekend Night promotion status, I emailed SPG to reconfirm my phone conversation. For the record, Starwood’s customer service center is truly world class. You are almost guaranteed to get an email response from a native English writer in 12 hours or less. Below is SPG’s standard response:

“I would like to inform you that you will not be able to see your free weekend online. To redeem a Free Weekend Night Award, Preferred Guest members in the U.S. or Canada should call 866-539-0059. Elite members should call their dedicated Gold or Platinum Members residing outside the U.S. and Canada should contact the Starwood Preferred Guest Customer Contact Center for your region. Advanced reservations are required and all members please mention Award ID 9FWFN when you call to book your reservation.”

In summary, here are our findings:

• The entire SPG Free Weekend Night promotion is done offline.
• You will have to keep track of your own stays to make sure you get free weekend night credit.
• You will have to ring customer service directly to make each booking.

SPG could have saved a lot of money and hassle (dealing with customer calls and emails) had they listed the above bulletpoints on their FAQ site.

I signed up for the Starwood’s (SGP) free weekend night promotion (here’s a link to Captain G’s original post) and had two stays at two SPG properties.  According to the Free Weekend Promotion FAQ, you are supposed to get your Free Weekend Night credit after 3 to 5 days. My last stay at the SPG hotel was May 5, 2009 — more than a week ago.

I have been checking online at spg.com and waited for an email notification of the free weekend night (SPG is normally very good at emails).  After a few more days, I saw nothing so I gave Starwood a call.  The representative informed me I did indeed have a free weekend night, but I can’t see it online. The representative also told me SPG does not plan on sending out notifications.  I have learned the following:

1.  You have to call and find out how many nights you have earned – no status will be provided online

2.  You also have to call to redeem your free weekend night rewards.  When you call to redeem your free weekend nights, you should mention Award ID: 9FWFN to the agent in case he/she is not aware of your award status.

Normally I would find this a bit annoying, but Starwood representatives have been courteous and helpful most of the time.

Priority Club, with Intercontinental Hotel as the flagship hotel, has joined Starwood’s (SPG) to free hotel nights after each hotel stay. Here’s the link to the Priority Club offer. In case you are interested in the SPG free night’s offer, here’s the link again.

The Priority Club offer is as follow:

* Stay 2 nights from May 4 to July 3, 2009 and get 1 night free
* Maximum of earning 4 free nights which can be redeemed from July 3 to December 26, 2009

The SPG free weekend nights offer is much better than Priority Club’s free nights’ offer. Below are the reasons why:

1.  SPG’s free weekend nights’ offer allows you to earn unlimited free weekend nights after two hotel stays from May 1 to July 31, 2009. In addition, SPG’s offer period is two weeks longer than Priority Club’s. However SPG is looking for two hotel stays which means you may need to check-in and check-out of hotels to maximize your rewards during the promotion period. For those who are not familiar with the hotel stay concept, an eligible stay is one or more consecutive nights at a particular hotel. SPG will not give you credit for a multiple hotel stays if you check-in/check-out on consecutive nights at the same property .

2.  There are no blackout dates for redemption. As long as it’s a Friday, Saturday or Sunday and rooms are available, SPG will allow you to use the free weekend night.

3.  SPG’s properties are generally nicer than Priority Clubs’ properties. SPG properties are also in metropolitan locations.

Here are a few minor setbacks on the SPG offer:  Priority Club’s 4 free nights can be redeemed on any day – not just weekends. Another minor downside on SPG free nights offer is SPG’s free nights expiration date: September 30, 2009 compared to Priority Club’s December 26, 2009.

Given the two minor setbacks, SPG’s free weekend nights’ offer is superior to Priority Club’s offer. Below are links to two other offers which may be attractive to you:

*  Hilton’s 1000 Bonus Point offer

*  Marriott’s Double Nights Offer

Here’s a link to my original post regarding the SPG offer.