Use Starwood pts. or Gold Status now?

[reeanna]

What an incredible board you've got going here. I have learned so much reading these last 70 pages or so (so much for sleep)! Thank you all for the wonderful information. I need some advice from the experts- I have reservations at Dolphin w/Nurse disc. for Feb 4-11 2004. I received the Starwood AMEX and called the 800 number and requested (very politely and without pressure) a comp. upgrade to Gold Preferred, which they gave me without problem. When I originally made the res., I was not Gold status. Should I call the dolphin now and tell them I have Gold Status or should I wait until a later time? I expect to have just enough points by Feb. to upgrade to CL (1,000/night I believe). CL is more important to us than a good view. Should I wait and secure CL using points and then see what gold gets us at check-in or should I call now and attach the gold level to my reservation and hope I accrue enough pts? Does this message make any sense? Like I said, I've used up a lot of sleep time reading these messages! Keep up the good work, you're a great bunch!

 

[CarnotaurDad]

Hi reeanna and welcome to the boards!

I too have become addicted to them.

As an experienced Starwood guest, here is my recommendation to you:

1) Call and have your Gold number added to your reservation as soon as possible.

2) If CL is definitely important, go ahead and use the points. If you don't really mind whether or not you get CL, go ahead and wait and see if you get upgraded.

I have found that there is never a good guarantee whether you get upgraded or not and the best way to guarantee is to use the points.

Hope that helps. Good luck and let me know if you have any further questions.

 

[ozziewags]

reanna......you have done your homework, congratulations! Carnotaurdad gave you good advise. Call and get that number on your reservation asap and if CL is important go ahead and use your points. Upgrades are not guaranteed, only requested, and received upon availability at the time. You would be taking a chance! Good luck!

 

[hookedup]

I guess I am a little confused by your post - if you want club level and it is very important to you then you need to book it and pay for it. If you are wanting to save the dough and upgrade with points then you have to wait until 5 days out (unless you are staying on a free award night then you can use points to upgrade at anytime - learned that this weekend!) to use your points and hope CL upgrade is available. Your Gold Status may or may not earn you CL upgrade complimentary, if CL is not available it may get you a room view upgrade or room type upgrade.

If you have your SPG number attached to your reservation then they should automatically know it's gold - but it doesn't hurt to call the S/D directly and let them know your status has changed.

 

[Mouseteacher]

Definitely call S/D and attach your new Gold spg # to your ressie. If the resort is quiet the time you are going which I believe 2/4 can be quiet (much before Washington's B-day holiday), you just might get a CL comp. However, I agree with hookedup, that if it is extremely important to have CL you should reserve it.

We got a CL comp last summer -8/23- b/c the resort was very, very quiet / only 2 conventions came in and that was much later during our week there. To get CL comp is very risky. JMHO