Sorry about the confusing thread title (especially for a first post)... I'm planning a Seattle-Vancouver trip with a few friends at the end of the month, and we're planning to stay at several Starwood properties along the way. The reason is that my friend's girlfriend (who won't be traveling with us) has Platinum status and can get us some perks if she makes reservations for us. She also gets credit for the stays toward requalifying for status. Meanwhile, I'd like to apply for the SPG Amex (was planning to apply anyways) and use it to pay for the stays, getting at least 2x points. So the question is, can you have one person make the reservation and get the status qualification, and another person pay and get the points? Or does everything have to be tied to a single SPG account? On a side note, does anyone have any general impressions of the following properties? We'll be staying at: Four Points Victoria Gateway Westin Wall Centre (Vancouver Airport) Westin Seattle Secondary question: If I happen to not get the SPG Amex (I want to wait and see if the signup bonus goes to 30k), is there another credit card that would be good for travel expenses? If all else fails I'll probably just use my Citi AA Visa to chip away at the minimum spend. Thanks!
As long as you use her SPG account to make the reservation, and your card to pay (but not associating your SPG number to the res), you should be fine. She should note when she makes the reservation that YOU will be checking in... otherwise they'll want her to be there to check in.
The person that actually stays in the room and pays gets the credit. You won't get plat benefits for the room if the plat member is not staying. Starwood has been cracking down on this recently. Plus don't you want all the points you are eligible to get for the stay? I'm sure there are cases where people have gotten the benefits and the plat member not staying gets the stay credit, but it's a violation of the program t&cs. -David
Any Platinum benefits we might get would be a nice bonus, but not something I'm counting on. What I'm mainly concerned about is 1) me getting maximum points for paying for the stays and 2) her getting credit for the qualifying stays. I just want to make sure the two aren't mutually exclusive.
If she gets the stay credit, she gets the points for the stay. If you get the stay credit you get the points for the stay. Plus, as I said above, she can't get the stay credit if she's not staying AND paying for the stay. If you want the points, make your own reservation in your own name, using your own SPG#, and pay using your SPG Amex Credit Card for the SPG Amex points bonus. No, you won't get her platinum benefits, but you aren't entitled to get them anyway. And no, she won't get a stay credit she isn't entitled to get anyway. -David
The SPG 30k offer will be back tomorrow, Aug 7th! It will offer 10k after first purchase and 20k after $5k spend in 6 mths. $0 annual fee year 1 and $65/year after that. You'll have from Aug 7 - Sept 4th to sign up w/the 30k point offer. As for earning points when when the cardholder is not at the hotel.... The Terms & Conditions say: 2.1Earning Opportunities at SPG Participating Hotels. An SPG Member will earn two base Starpoints for Eligible Rates and Eligible Charges at SPG Participating Hotels for each US dollar or the currency equivalent that is incurred and paid for by the SPG Member. 2.2 Eligible Charges. 2.2.a. During a stay at an SPG Participating Hotel, "Eligible Charges" are charges incurred by an SPG Member on his/her folio for up to three rooms: i. Eligible Rates; ii. food and beverage (excluding alcoholic beverage purchases where prohibited by law); iii. direct dialed in-room telephone and direct-dialed in-room fax; iv. laundry/valet; and v. in-room movies and video games; provided that the SPG Member provides his/her SPG Member number at the time of reservation or at check-in and stays in one of the reserved guest rooms. I've had it go both ways, some times I will earn points when I'm not there, and sometimes I don't. I think it depends on the hotel. How many nights will you have all together? It might make sense for you to do a Platinum Status Challenge yourself. Get the SPG Amex and earn credit for 5 nights/2 stays toward status, plus the nights you'll earn on your trip, plus the sign-up bonus, you'd be off to a nice start for yourself. Four Points Victoria Gateway is an okay hotel. Not as nice as the nearby Westin, but a good value. The Westin Wall Centre is good. I've stayed there many times. Haven't stayed at the Westin in Seattle, sorry Other cards, I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card because it has no foreign transactions fees and I really like the Ultimate Rewards from Chase. Since you're going to Canada, you might consider that card or another one w/no FTEs.
That sure was good timing! I'll be applying in the next few days. Thanks for the info on the T&C. I figured the points/status thing might be a bit of a crapshoot depending on which property you're at. I guess one of us will get credit no matter what, and I wouldn't begrudge her the points. She researched the destinations and made the reservations, after all. I hadn't thought of doing a Platinum Status Challenge. Unfortunately, we'll only be staying 4 nights total (2 nights in Seattle and 1 each in Vancouver and Victoria), so with the AMEX bonus I'd only be halfway through the challenge. Maybe I can retroactively begin a challenge if I end up doing some more traveling in the next three months? Good call on using a card with no forex fees. Now that I think about it, that might make it not worthwhile to use the SPG Amex for the Canadian stays. Thanks for the advice!
The Westin Seattle is a very nice and convenient property. However, if you are planning to park a car at the hotel, the fee is $40+ per day. Adds up quick.
If you use your friend's SPG number, have her add you to the reservation and tell them that you may be checking in before her and using your credit card. I've done that for friends in the past and no one has ever asked to see me after they had checked in. If you want her to get the points, they have to think that she will be staying there.
If I understand this thread right, the OP is asking/planning to commit fraud by enjoying SPG Plat benefits (which his girlfriend has earned) by trying to associate her account number with a room reservation where she has no plans to be anywhere the hotel for the duration of the OP's stay. Then the OP wants to also get points credited to his account for such a stay while she (or maybe he if he opts for the Plat challenge) gets the night and stay credit? To me, this sounds like something that rightly could and should result is the loss of points and any status from both accounts. The rules are simple. You get status benefits and earn nights/stay/points only when you are a hotel guest (room in your name and you actually stay there) and pay.
The SPG Amex has a Forex fee of 2.7%. So it might not be the best deal for CAN. Here's the 30k link though https://www262.americanexpress.com/apisites/microsite/landingpage/95-1000-160 (Side note: this is not a link that I make any money from.) There's no retroactive challenges, so it's probably best not to do it until you're sure you can hit it.
There is no harm in him asking a question. He's asking because he doesn't know the rules and wanted advice - not to be attacked.
