Beginner's guide to loyalty programs - Starwood Preferred Guest
This is the second in a series of posts for beginners, aimed at introducing them to the key aspects of each of the significant hotel loyalty programs. We'll deal with Starwood Preferred Guest, or SPG, in this post.
ITC Grand Central, Mumbai
There are also statuses for lifetime Gold and lifetime Platinum, based on a combination of (a) number of years of status at those levels and (b) total nights spent at SPG hotels.
SPG used to offer status matches based on status with competing programs, but that was discontinued about 2 or 3 years ago. And while SPG does rarely offers published promotions to up your status (which, say Hilton, does fairly often), they do offer status challenges, which involve completing a certain number of stays / nights within a prescribed period, often not more than 90 days. Note, that if you succeed in a challenge once, your account will not be eligible for another challenge in its lifetime.
Benefits by level can be viewed here. There are additional benefits for Platinums who stay 50, 75 and 100 nights or more.
SPG has co-branded credit cards outside India, that earn points for signing-up for the card, as well as on spends. They also often provide elite status, subject to conditions. In addition, using those cards at SPG properties can earn accelerated points.
SPG also runs quarterly promotions, and registration for these is required. Promotions usually earn bonus points based on number of nights stayed, number of stays, or a combination of those two, during the promotion period. Bonus points earned during promotion don't count towards the base for earning tier bonuses. Promotions will usually come with attached terms and conditions, as also non-participating properties.
About SPG
SPG is the loyalty program of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts group, with close to 1,200 hotels and properties in nearly 100 countries worldwide, offering close to 350,000 hotels rooms a night. The chain has 1 brands across various segments, being Four Points, Sheraton, Aloft, W hotels, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, element, Westin, St Regis, Tribute portfolio and Design Hotels.
Before we proceed, I should mention that in late 2015, Starwood was acquired by Marriott. While the procedural aspects of the acquisition are in progress (and there's an outside chance that the acquisition may not go through), the SPG and Marriott Rewards programs are not expected to (fully) merge by the end of 2016. If and when the two programs are combined, the outlook could be different.
Before we proceed, I should mention that in late 2015, Starwood was acquired by Marriott. While the procedural aspects of the acquisition are in progress (and there's an outside chance that the acquisition may not go through), the SPG and Marriott Rewards programs are not expected to (fully) merge by the end of 2016. If and when the two programs are combined, the outlook could be different.
About SPG
The SPG program has 3 main, published, levels:
- Preferred: On signing up
- Gold: After 10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year
- Platinum: After 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year
There are also statuses for lifetime Gold and lifetime Platinum, based on a combination of (a) number of years of status at those levels and (b) total nights spent at SPG hotels.
SPG used to offer status matches based on status with competing programs, but that was discontinued about 2 or 3 years ago. And while SPG does rarely offers published promotions to up your status (which, say Hilton, does fairly often), they do offer status challenges, which involve completing a certain number of stays / nights within a prescribed period, often not more than 90 days. Note, that if you succeed in a challenge once, your account will not be eligible for another challenge in its lifetime.
Benefits by level can be viewed here. There are additional benefits for Platinums who stay 50, 75 and 100 nights or more.
Earning points
Members earn 2 base points per eligible $ of spend. Gold and Platinum members earn a bonus of 1 point per $ spent.
SPG has co-branded credit cards outside India, that earn points for signing-up for the card, as well as on spends. They also often provide elite status, subject to conditions. In addition, using those cards at SPG properties can earn accelerated points.
SPG also runs quarterly promotions, and registration for these is required. Promotions usually earn bonus points based on number of nights stayed, number of stays, or a combination of those two, during the promotion period. Bonus points earned during promotion don't count towards the base for earning tier bonuses. Promotions will usually come with attached terms and conditions, as also non-participating properties.
Spending points
HHonors points can be used for award nights at their hotels. Hotels are bucketed into categories (1 through 7), and require between 2,000 points a night (Cat 1) to 35,000 points a night (Cat 7) for an award. However, SPG does offer a 5th night free on awards, so that's a 20% discount when using points for those longer-stay awards. The good thing is, reward nights do qualify for stay/night counts towards elite qualification. In fact, a stay by any means qualifies for elite levels.
Lobby at the St Regis, Mumbai
You could also transfer SPG points to airline partners. These normally transfer at a 1:1 ratio, but if you transfer 20,000 or more points, SPG will add 5,000 more points to the transfer base. So a transfer of 20,000 SPG points will earn 25,000 miles in the airline program you're transferring to. Needless to say, if you're transferring more than 20,000 SPG points, break them up into multiples of 20,000 as far as possible.
SPG points can also be used to bid for SPG Moments, which offer prizes such as tickets to a sports event (say Formula 1 race or the US Open), music / cultural events, etc. This is a great option, and one that the other big loyalty programs don't offer.
Finally, SPG points can be transferred or donated to charity.
You could also transfer SPG points to airline partners. These normally transfer at a 1:1 ratio, but if you transfer 20,000 or more points, SPG will add 5,000 more points to the transfer base. So a transfer of 20,000 SPG points will earn 25,000 miles in the airline program you're transferring to. Needless to say, if you're transferring more than 20,000 SPG points, break them up into multiples of 20,000 as far as possible.
SPG points can also be used to bid for SPG Moments, which offer prizes such as tickets to a sports event (say Formula 1 race or the US Open), music / cultural events, etc. This is a great option, and one that the other big loyalty programs don't offer.
Finally, SPG points can be transferred or donated to charity.
Conclusion
Overall, SPG is a good program, midding around average to above-average. However, that's solely from an Indian perspective. Internationally, it is viewed as one of the best, if not the best, hotel loyalty program around. Gold and Platinum members do get room upgrades (Platinums could even get standard suites), but the lack of complimentary lounge access and breakfast for Gold is a bit of a sore point for me.
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