SPG Card for Swan and Dolphin

[MarBee]

hello!
I recently got the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex and then so did my husband. I have 38,000 points and he has 28,000 points for a total of 66,000 points. We are going to use our free points to stay at the Swan and Dolphin.
We are hoping to book all the nights in one room even though some points will be in my name and some in my husband's. We will switch rooms midtrip if need be, but we were hoping they would honor our request to stay in the same hotel.
Has anyone done this before? Was it easy? Any tips for me are appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[robinb]

Do you want to book 5 or more nights? I ask because you get your 5th night free when booking with SPG points. You may want to transfer the points from one account to the other so you can book all at once.

 

[duffybear32830]

You should transfer the points from one account to the other (can only be done in increments of 1,000). 66,000 is enough for 7 nights at Dolphin with a balcony upgrade (1,000 points per night is what I paid). FYI -- Swan is 12,000 now and Dolphin is 10,000.

 

[duffybear32830]

FYI. You will have to call to get the upgrade if you are interested.

 

[MarBee]

Do you want to book 5 or more nights? I ask because you get your 5th night free when booking with SPG points. You may want to transfer the points from one account to the other so you can book all at once.

Do you want to book 5 or more nights? I ask because you get your 5th night free when booking with SPG points. You may want to transfer the points from one account to the other so you can book all at once.

Yes! I want to book as many nights as I can get with my points. I was guesstimating that it would yield us 8 nights? We are looking at June of 2017, so based off of prices now, I think that's what we can get. However if I can get more I'll take it

 

[MarBee]

You should transfer the points from one account to the other (can only be done in increments of 1,000). 66,000 is enough for 7 nights at Dolphin with a balcony upgrade (1,000 points per night is what I paid). FYI -- Swan is 12,000 now and Dolphin is 10,000.

Sorry if this is a dumb question (I'm new to travel hacking)- when you say it can only be done in increments of 1,000, does that mean I will have to do 28 separate transfers to get my husband's points to me?

Also I did not realize that we could even transfer! Is the process hard? Do we get penalties for this?

 

[duffybear32830]

No - it is super easy. My increments of 1,000 I just mean if you have 20,125 points you can only transfer 20,000. (This is a recent change).
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/01/30/how-to-transfer-starwood-points-between-accounts/

You will need 4,000 more points to get 8 nights at the Dolphin if you have 66,000 now.

Right now, you can get 7 at Dolphin. 6 * 10,000 = 60,000 + 1 free night = 7 nights.

FWIW, Dolphin only has double beds and Swan has queens (but is 12,000 points vs 10,000)

 

[MarBee]

No - it is super easy. My increments of 1,000 I just mean if you have 20,125 points you can only transfer 20,000. (This is a recent change).
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/01/30/how-to-transfer-starwood-points-between-accounts/

You will need 4,000 more points to get 8 nights at the Dolphin if you have 66,000 now.

Right now, you can get 7 at Dolphin. 6 * 10,000 = 60,000 + 1 free night = 7 nights.

FWIW, Dolphin only has double beds and Swan has queens (but is 12,000 points vs 10,000)

Thank you! My children are small so the double beds aren't an issue.

But I was curious about the 5th night free deal. If I book 8 nights do I get two free nights for a total of 10?

 

[robinb]

The Swan is 16,000 points and the Dolphin is only 10,000.

 

[MarBee]

The Swan is 16,000 points and the Dolphin is only 10,000.

Yes, and with the free night deal, it actually averages out to 8,000 a night.
Wondering if the Swan is actually that much nicer than the Dolphin now??

 

[tuckerkeys]

This is exactly how my family gets to travel to Disney as often as we do....You've found the secret!

Be advised tho that they do charge a $25 per night " resort fee" as well as $15 to park. You Can avoid this charge Uber-ing to/from hotel.

Dolphin is undergoing a refurb to some rooms, and many have been done already. If you ask at check in for a new room, they will do their best to get you in one! The other thing is that they are extremely accommodating to SPG members. I have always only booked the cheapest room category, and upon check in, asked for whatever room I was looking for, epcot balcony, one near pool, even an alcove room. Have Always got an upgrade. Before our BCV reservation 2 weeks ago we stayed in the dolphin for 2 nights. I asked for an upgrade at check in and they gave us a suite!!! It was 10 pm when we finally got there, and I'm sure a lot of rooms had been filled already. THAT was a great surprise!

My kids prefer the dolphin over the swan b/c of picabu and the fountain being just downstairs. Now that the rooms are being remodeled to look just like the swans I will stay here instead of the swan b/c 10,000 points instead of 12

And yes they have a stay 4 nights get 5 free with the points that makes the points go down to 8,000 ea.

 

[MarBee]

This is exactly how my family gets to travel to Disney as often as we do....You've found the secret!

Be advised tho that they do charge a $25 per night " resort fee" as well as $15 to park. You Can avoid this charge Uber-ing to/from hotel.

Dolphin is undergoing a refurb to some rooms, and many have been done already. If you ask at check in for a new room, they will do their best to get you in one! The other thing is that they are extremely accommodating to SPG members. I have always only booked the cheapest room category, and upon check in, asked for whatever room I was looking for, epcot balcony, one near pool, even an alcove room. Have Always got an upgrade. Before our BCV reservation 2 weeks ago we stayed in the dolphin for 2 nights. I asked for an upgrade at check in and they gave us a suite!!! It was 10 pm when we finally got there, and I'm sure a lot of rooms had been filled already. THAT was a great surprise!

My kids prefer the dolphin over the swan b/c of picabu and the fountain being just downstairs. Now that the rooms are being remodeled to look just like the swans I will stay here instead of the swan b/c 10,000 points instead of 12

And yes they have a stay 4 nights get 5 free with the points that makes the points go down to 8,000 ea.

Thank you for this! I'm starting to try out the travel hacks now, so I'm glad this works for you!

With the 5th night free deal, is it every 5th night? Meaning if I stayed for 10 days, would the 5th and 10th night be free?

Also, have you ever done the kids eat free deal? Can you get this along with the 5th night free deal as well?

One more- sorry- if you waive housekeeping services, I've heard that they take that off of your resort fee. Is that true? I can't find anything on their site.


Thank you so much for the tips! I'm getting so excited!

 

[robinb]

I think the Swan is higher because it's a Westin instead of a Sheraton. I'm bummed because I'm staying 5 days at the end of the month and the Dolphin is sold out for my very last days. I still have to mull if I want to stay for 4 days at the Dolphin for 40K points and then move for one day or if I want to stick with the Swam for 64K points. My DH has about 130K points so either one works but I would prefer to save points!

We are also thinking about renting a car one-way from the airport and not paying to park. I looked at Uber, but you'll have to go off the airport to catch a cheaper Uber instead of the taxi-priced Uber.

As for housekeeping, I think that you get a $5 credit for food and beverages. You need to pass on housekeeping for at least 3 days.

 

[danielw888]

Have you priced out renting a car for a one-way trip? Normally this is much more expensive then renting a car for a single day and returning it to the same place.

As for uber you can catch one at the airport if you go downstairs to the Hyatt. Its basically on property but takes a little work around. Or you could take a normal taxi/shuttle. Either should be cheaper than renting a car for one-way trip.

 

[MarBee]

Have you priced out renting a car for a one-way trip? Normally this is much more expensive then renting a car for a single day and returning it to the same place.

As for uber you can catch one at the airport if you go downstairs to the Hyatt. Its basically on property but takes a little work around. Or you could take a normal taxi/shuttle. Either should be cheaper than renting a car for one-way trip.

I was thinking of just doing a cab/uber to and from the airport and just relying on the Disney buses after that.

Do you guys rent cars because the buses are no good? Just double checking.

 

[robinb]

Have you priced out renting a car for a one-way trip? Normally this is much more expensive then renting a car for a single day and returning it to the same place.

As for uber you can catch one at the airport if you go downstairs to the Hyatt. Its basically on property but takes a little work around. Or you could take a normal taxi/shuttle. Either should be cheaper than renting a car for one-way trip.

I have. My DH has a code he can use though his work that brings a car down to $38 for the day. We can also book on Hertz points for free. That would allow us to make a grocery stop too. Uber from one of the nearby MCO hotels is about the same price. Uber from MCO is $80. It's $19-$25 from an airport hotel.

ETA: We usually rent a car because we always drive to Tampa to see family and I like to have a car with me for a grocery stop to pick up snacks and adult beverages. I also prefer to drive most parks when not staying in a Boardwalk area hotel but if staying at the Swolphin I would probably only drive to AK if given a choice. It's not worth an extra $90 on top of the rental price for my 5 days. I am looking into pricing for Alamo/National so I can just drop off right at the Dolphin.

 

[danielw888]

Thats a great price Robinb. If you can really get a one-way single day rental for under $50 that would work well(as long as the time to check out the car, and return the car is reasonable). Most of them I have priced out are easily in the 65+range after taxes/fees, which makes it much more economical to take a regular taxi to the hotel(although I use the UberX trick to save even more), and then a uber to the store if needed.

I think the Disney Bus System is great Marbee. You might have to wait from time to time, if its a busy period for the next bus, but overall, it generally will take you no longer than if you are stuck driving, finding somewhere to park, and then walking to the gates. Some people do like to have their own car, but I enjoy not having to worry about car related issues while on vacation.