Starwood Preferred Guest Improves Their First Promotion of 2016
Starwood Preferred Guest announced their first promotion of the year, Take Two, in mid-December. It wasn’t overwhelming, somewhere between “beats a sharp stick in the eye” and “that’s nice”. It offers double points at all properties as well as a 250 point bonus for properties in key markets through the end of April, 2016.
Today they announced a bit of a sweetener:
The new elements are:
- A 2,500 point bonus if you stay at least 15 nights during the promo period.
- A 7,500 point bonus if you stay at least 25 nights during the promo period.
This improvement will really only affect the frequent traveler since you’re talking averaging 4 nights a month at SPG properties through April to hit the bottom tier of the new portion.
The world of hotel promos has significantly weakened over the last few years as occupancy has improved, so our expectations have been dulled. That being said, in a world where Hyatt doesn’t even have a promo yet in 2016 and Marriott is rehashing MegaBonus, extra points for loyal frequent travelers is a good thing.
I wonder about the timing. Why not offer this to start with? Were bookings slower than normal? If so, they must feel that the most benefit can come from trying to change the behavior of their most frequent travelers (again, at a time when other brands aren’t offering better promos). Maybe they’re trying to fortify their elite ranks after Hyatt offered up a generous status match?
Since I’m trying to lock up my lifetime Platinum status, there’s actually a chance I hit 15 nights in the first few months, though I can’t be sure (mostly because my travel schedule looks like a Rorschach test.
