Starwood Preferred Card???

[DNBois]

My husband and I booked a room at the Dolphin with the $129 a night rate. We discovered through this forum that we could get a Starwood Preferred Card and save on rooms and upgardes. We did get our Card in the mail a couple of weeks ago. We intend on using it during our upcoming trip and probably once more when we book next February. My question is this: even though we have no points accumulated on it, can we request any special upgrade when we arrive? It may be a silly question but I figured it was worth a shot. Any info is much appreciated.

 

[Ncrnation]

When i had gotten my new Starwood Card i had no points on it but we were upgraded to a lovely waterview room at the Swan and this during Christmas time. And once you have points, look out. My second trip i was upgraded from a Standard room to a fabulous balcony room overlooking the TOT and the Pool.

Couldn't be beat!

Jenn

 

[csmommy]

Everything you always wanted to know about Starwood, but were afraid to ask


http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=204282

 

[WDW2000]

I also received my SPG card, after my reservation was made on a teacher's discount. When I asked for an upgrade they were very snobbish about it, and needless to say, I didn't receive one. Then to top if off, I'm planning a trip again this April, so I was excited to finally get to use those points I accumulated on my last trip, (10 nights on just my last stay accumulated) but I was told because my last trip was 13 months ago I lost all my points!! 6000+ points down the drain! I use to always stay with Westin to get those points, but after 9/11 didn't travel much last year so they erased me from their system. Not such a great reward system.

So, in my case, the card ended up being a joke.

 

[DNBois]

Thanks everyone for the insight.

WDW 2000 - I would call and talk to a manager. There should be no way that those points should expire; even frequent flyer miles on airlines last at least three years (I think). It couldn't hurt to call and to also nicely explain that you have been venting your frustration on these boards. Perhaps a DIS Moderator could intervene for you or get you some information - hope it all works out.

 

[WDW2000]

I actually did call. Didn't talk to a manager though. I was told that since my card was inactive for a year I lost all my points, and I would have to start over. My old account still shows up, as well as the unused points, but under current point total is says "0.00"

You're right I should have asked to speak to someone else, I'm just not very good at confrontations, so I let it go. It just goes to show (with the Swan/Dolphin at least) there is a difference between being "Disney owned" and "non-disney". I would have never been treated that way if it was a Disney owned resort I'm sure.

 

[tjmw2727]

I think it depends on how busy the resort is. I got an upgrade on my first stay before I had any points and it was wonderful. Since then it seems to depend on the person checking us in as well as the availability of an upgrade. I have also noticed we are upgraded more often at the Dolphin than the Swan.

In comparison, even with 3 + stays per year over the past 5 years I have never received an upgrade at any of the WDW Resorts (incudling deluxe).

TJ

 

[DNBois]

WDW 2000 -

I have similar things happen to me and I have to admit (and so would my embarrassed DH) that I do complain (just a little) to get what I want (or at least what I am owed). Seriously - you should call and ask for a Manager and let him know that you are not happy with the way you were treated and because of it you have posted the info on the DIS forums for all to see - then write a registered, certified letter that includes all your issues - one that requires a response and most of the time, instead of haggling, they will give in. You never know. Anyway, either way hope everything works out and you still get to enjoy Disney (most likely at a Disney-owned hotel

 

[The Pluto People]

"Disney owned" resorts do not offer "points" towards future stays. If the only way you are acquiring points on your Starwood account is by staying at a Starwood resort then, yes, the rule is the points expire. If you get a Starwood AmEx and acquire points for your purchases, the points do not expire. We are staying at the Dolphin in June in a Junior Suite - we have four nights free and the other nights at the 50% off Entertainment rate!!! We put ALL our purchases on our Starwood AmEx.

 

[MichiganMommy]

It all depends on who you talk to...

We just returned from 4 nights at the swan. I REALLY wanted to be upgraded to club level, so we got the am ex starwood credit card and used it for several months to accumulate 4800 pts. As soon as I hit 1000 pts, I called starwood to upgrade. They told me that 1) it now takes 1500 pts a night to upgrade 2) you can't "reserve" an upgrade more than 5 days before your stay and 3) the hotel (including CL) was sold out for our stay and that I couldn't upgrade when CL was already sold out. I called a couple of times, and every time I got a slightly different story on #2 but always was told that since the hotel and CL was sold out that I couldn't upgrade "because the club was designed for the occupants of the 12th floor and there isn't room for more people and besides it isn't fair to the people who paid and reserved club level for it to be packed with people (like me!) who used pts to upgrade". I could sort of understand this logic, but I had heard on these boards of several people who were given club priveleges even though they stayed on a different floor.

Anyhow I called 5 days ahead and 1 day ahead and asked again when we checked in and they would not let us use points to upgrade. The front desk woman was pretty blunt/grumpy about my request. Our 2nd day at the Swan, we had a minor, minor, mix-up with a minibar charge and DH went to the front desk to sort it out. As he was walking out the door, I gave him the starwood card and told him to ask again for an upgrade. Hey it can't hurt to ask. 15 minutes later he was back with new room keys with CL access. He just asked and the guy gave it to him!

From my experience I would say that either the "rules" about upgrading aren't hard and fast, or that all the starwood/swan/dolphin people don't know all the rules.

Have a great trip. The resort is beautiful!

 

[Lisa BC]

Hi!

I signed up for an SPG card last week. A few people have had similar questions about the points, so I decided to check out the SPG website... no info about expiration points. So I e-mailed SPG customer service.
I've pasted the response I received below:

"Starpoints do not expire for active members. As long as you keep your account active, your Starpoints will never expire. You will be considered an "Active Member" so long as you have earned Starpoints during the previous twelve months. Remember, for Preferred Guests to keep an account active requires one stay within a rolling 12-months. "

Hope this helps!

Lisa

 

[BadgerBruce]

We stay at a Starwood resort the night before we fly out of Milwaukee every Spring. We stayed at the Swan in 2000, Dolphin in 2001. We were able to keep our points by staying at the Milwaukee hotel. Another way to keep points would be to dine at a local Starwood, or using the restaurants or gift shops at the S/D at WDW, making sure you show them your card. Hope to use our points for an upgrade in April!

 

[Bill From PA]

I'll read the Starwood link posted here, but maybe someone can give me a quick answer to this. We were new Starwood members for our Nov. 8 - 16, 2002 stay at Dolphin. I recently used my Starwood account to book a 2/27 - 3/6 2004 stay at Dolphin. There will be more than a 12 month gap between actual visits, but I used the card in the meantime to reserve our rooms. Does this not count as 'activity'? If not, what can I do, perhaps in Sept. of this year, to generate activity? Thanks in advance.

Bill From PA

 

[Lisa BC]

Hi Bill!

Well the official line is that you have to "earn" points in the rolling twelve month period in order to keep active. So the reservation doesn't really count, because you don't "earn" those points until you actually stay.

BadgerBruce suggests dining at a local Starwood property. The e-mail that I received from SPG customer service indicated that you need at least one stay in a rolling twelve month period, see my above post. So I'll be interested to hear from SPG if dining counts. If it does, Yeah!!!

The good news is that your stay doesn't have to be at a Westin or Sheraton, it could be at any Starwood property, including the less expensive ones like Summerfield Suites, and Four Points.

Just as an FYI, we're staying at the Westin in Princeton, NJ the end of March to earn some "bonus points" and try out the "heavenly beds". (I don't want to spend two weeks at Disney sleeping on a bed that I don't like!) We were able to book a weekend rate of $85 on SPG website. Because its a new property for Starwood, you can earn 1000 points per night through March 31, 2003. From Wilkes-Barre, Princeton is just a hop, skip, and a jump.

Lisa

 

[disnurse]

I'm wondering if using amer. express which earns starwoods points will continue to keep acount open or do you actually have to stay at a hotel. This isn't an issue for now but we may be skipping our annual dis trip next year.

 

[Bill From PA]

Lisa BC,

Thanks for the reply. We're very familiar with the Princeton area, my wife worked at the Princeton Theological Seminary and I taught in Hamilton Twp. Actually, I've got two weeks of training in April and June in Reading PA. and there's a Starwood property there with the Gov't/Teacher's discount. Even if my college won't spring for a place this expensive, I'll book a night there and pay the difference just to keep my points alive. If my boss does pay the whole thing, I'll pick up a couple thousand more points than I had bargained for! Life is good!


Bill From PA

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by MichiganMommy
...I REALLY wanted to be upgraded to club level, so we got the am ex starwood credit card and used it for several months to accumulate 4800 pts. As soon as I hit 1000 pts, I called starwood to upgrade. They told me that 1) it now takes 1500 pts a night to upgrade 2) you can't "reserve" an upgrade more than 5 days before your stay and 3) the hotel (including CL) was sold out for our stay and that I couldn't upgrade when CL was already sold out. <snip>

...Our 2nd day at the Swan, we had a minor, minor, mix-up with a minibar charge and DH went to the front desk to sort it out. As he was walking out the door, I gave him the starwood card and told him to ask again for an upgrade. Hey it can't hurt to ask. 15 minutes later he was back with new room keys with CL access. He just asked and the guy gave it to him!

From my experience I would say that either the "rules" about upgrading aren't hard and fast, or that all the starwood/swan/dolphin people don't know all the rules...

More than likely you encountered a situation where the CL was not available for your entire length of stay (S/D doesn't check the nights individually to see if there's CL availability on each night of your stay). Their computers showed that there was no CL available on the day you checked in so they said it was booked. And it was.

But on your second day, the availability for the balance of your stay most likely opened up due to someone checking out that day and the room staying open for the remainder of the time you were going to be there.

This kind of thing happens all the time especially when you try to make discounted reservations for Disney resorts and they tell you the rate is sold out. If it isn't available for the entire length of your stay, they won't check the individual nights unless you ask them to. S/D is no different.

You get told that it's sold out believing that every night is unavailable when in actuality it is only one night during your stay that is sold out. But that one unavailable night is enough to flag the CL as being sold out for your entire stay.

I'm glad that you finally got your upgrade but I think that you were very premature in accusing starwood/swan/dolphin employees of not knowing all the rules. There are other explanations.

 

[corndog]

WDW2000,

I just had called and my expired points reinstated from 2.5 years ago. I didn't have to talk to a manager or anything. I called the number on the card, ask them to reinstate them, and within 3 days I saw them back on my account.

 

[disnurse]

corndog thats great!! I think i have read on these boards about that same situation but it was a long time ago. Hope those lost points come in handy.