Need upgrade clarification from Starwood experts!

[reeanna]

Hi all. I'm still wading through the 70+ pages of info on the other Starwood thread and now I see you've got another going! Oh well, sleep is overrated anyway right? I was wondering if one of you experts here could help me out- I have ressies for Feb. 04 using nurse disc. rate and I have Starwood AMEX w/upgrade to Gold SPG. I may be able to accumulate enough pts. between now and Feb. to buy an upgrade to CL (which I believe is 1,000 pts. per night= 6,000 pt. total.) If I buy an upgrade to CL, am I still entitled to a free upgrade as well (if avail) for being Gold SPG and if so, will they upgrade me out of CL to a balcony room? Are there balcony rooms that also have CL privileges? Honestly, whatever happens, I'll be thrilled to be at WDW and to be getting the discounted rate at the Dolphin. I'd appreciate any/all advice and I want to thank you for the wealth of information on this board and others!!

 

[cherylp3]

I don't know. You might want to ask on flyertalk.com boards.

-Cheryl

 

[Kapp]

Would love to see an answer as we are in about the same situation with the points , Teacher rate, GOLD SPG status and upgrade questions/situations for our mid-November trip

Good luck!

 

[madge]

I don't know. You might want to ask on flyertalk.com boards.

just make sure you do a thorough search, LOL...they are very picky about that over there

Would love to see an answer as we are in about the same situation with the points , Teacher rate, GOLD SPG status and upgrade questions/situations

the question about using points to upgrade and then getting a gold level upgrade is a good one. I haven't got a clue what the answer is on that one....I don't think that they would move you out of CL to a balcony room because they are equal in the eyes of Starwood. if anything, the CL might be a level higher and the balcony would be a downgrade. Again, I'm not real sure about that one.

what is your Feb 04 reservation for? A standard room or a resort view with balcony? that might make a difference as far as the gold status upgrades go. so any of these upgrades depend on who you talk to--Starwood or the S/D, if the person is in a good mood or not, etc...I think each person has a different experience when it comes to these upgrades

the bottom line is, if the upgrade is important to you, then use the points so you have it guaranteed. If the hotel is busy, then the gold status won't mean much, unfortunately. all those upgrades are based on availability. it says so all over www.spg.com

I know I said a lot and didn't say much of anything you probably already haven't done a search on and found out for yourself. good luck!

 

[reeanna]

I have thought about posting the same question on Flyertalk but they don't seem to be as shall we say- "patient" as folks here on these boards. I checked my ressie on the spg.com site and it says, "standard room, limited view, etc." From what I gather, my best bet would be to amass the 6,000 pts. and try for an upgrade to CL that way. If theres an additional upgrade avail. at check-in, I guess I'll just have to ask what that entails. This will be our first stay at the Dolphin and we're looking forward to a great time, no matter what happens. Is there anyone out there who has been in similar circumstances (teacher/nurse/govt employee w/gold spg and enough pts. to upgrade to CL) who would be willing to shed some light? Thanks all!!!

 

[swilphil]

Sorry I can't answer any of your other questions, but I do know that you can stay in a balcony room and get CL privileges if you want. I'm not sure how many points that takes though.

 

[madge]

Originally posted by swilphil
Sorry I can't answer any of your other questions, but I do know that you can stay in a balcony room and get CL privileges if you want. I'm not sure how many points that takes though.

Sherri,

have you done this recently? We have used CL priv. with a balcony room before, but I think I have read recently that either the S/D or Starwood is putting a stop to it. I hope not, we have a resort balcony view I don't want to lose and enough points for CL priv. In a perfect world, I'll get a comp upgrade I don't see that happening, though. the resort is booked solid with a convention for part of our. I love our view, though...running to Publix for breakfast supplies is not a big to me at all

I have thought about posting the same question on Flyertalk but they don't seem to be as shall we say- "patient" as folks here on these boards.

Reeanna,

I like www.flyertalk.com mainly for information about Starwood (and other frequent stay programs). the are a very no-nonsense board, much like www.biddingfortravel.com (the Priceline board)

Before asking anything, just do a thorough search. that's really all they ask. I needed some help planning a trip to DC and got a lot of good information from there. It depresses me to read there, too...I read about oromos that I am never targeted for. grrrr

 

[reeanna]

Thanks for the links Sherri, I'll check them out. I just called Starwood to see if I could get some answers re: my earlier upgrade questions. Didn't get much info- they confirmed that CL upgrade would be 1000 pts/night. When I asked about CL w/balcony, I was told the Dolphin doesn't have CL rooms w/balcony and if I wanted to upgrade to balcony room, it would be 1500 pts./night, but no club privileges. I'm sure I've seen info on other posts before of people with balcony rooms who also had club priv. but maybe they've changed it since those posts. It seems that Starwood has been making a lot of policy changes recently from what I have read on the FlyerTalk boards. The Starwood rep. also reminded me that upgrades with pts. can't be made until 5 days prior to arrival and that there was no guarantee a CL room would be avail., even I had the pts. She also checked the dates I am going 2/4-10 and said that they do not appear to be sold out at this time, and that it was generally a slower time. I guess I'll just try to upgrade to CL 5 days prior and see what if anything they offer at check-in....

 

[madge]

I guess I'll just try to upgrade to CL 5 days prior and see what if anything they offer at check-in....

sounds like a plan to me! you've got some time...have fun planning!

glad to hear about the 1000 pt. upgrade to CL. I thought it was more than that.

 

[danalin]

Here's what we did, in may we had a standard room reserved(govt. rate) when we arrived we were upgraded to a balcony room (starwood preferred guest & AE card) after we checked in to the room we went down and asked if we could apply our points for club priveleges and they did allow this but I think CL was full at the time. Also when you exchange points at the hotel they charge 1250 pts per night instead of the 1000 pts if you call starwood. Hope this helps you!

 

[reeanna]

If I am able to stockpile the 7500 pts., I may try it myself!