Starwood Hotel Points

I did my first Starwood hotel stay last week. The points went into my account as 0, presumably because the refund was processed so fast (Like, the next day. Way to be on the ball). does this happen to all Starwood shops or is it unusual because of the speed of the refund?

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I did Starwood hotels on my own with my American Express Rewards points.. They have changed and you now need many more points, so, I'm through. I haven't had the luck of being reimbursed in a day, but doing another hotel and will be reimbursed in a week. Keep your eyes open, sounds like they are on top of it.

Live consciously....

Huh?
What does this have to do with AmEx?

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I think it's unusual. I've kept the points from every SPG shop I've done. I have had some Marriott hotels reverse the points

Hopefully this doesn't have anything to do with the merger with Marriott.

Anyways, I've typically kept my Starwood points and even Marriott points as well from their shops.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

My platinum bonus went in but the stay is still zero. I'm going to call about it.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

Did you merge your Marriott And Starwood rewards accounts?

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Yup. But they still accrue in their individual accounts.
I've been playing the points game HARD. So much so that my accrual since February has netted us a 10-day trip across the country with a 3 day drive down the PCH staying in all 4-star hotels- All for only the cost of a rental car, only because Chase won't book one-way rental cars using points. Nobody knows why.
I still have a ton of Marriott and Chase points leftover, too.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I've actually confirmed this with a Marriott employee recently over some small talk. As Hoju stated, Starwood rewards and Marriott rewards are still separate. But that could always change though.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Um... before you make the call, ask the MSC if it's okay to do so. One MSC gave me a really stern warning about it when I didn't get my points for an expensive stay and wanted to call... just FYI

@Hoju wrote:

My platinum bonus went in but the stay is still zero. I'm going to call about it.

Good idea.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

@Hoju wrote:

Chase won't book one-way rental cars using points.

Part of the points game is having points with multiple companies. Ive been amassing Enterprise points during all of my travel this year and they allow for one-way trips.

I think that Marriott & SPG have a plan to merge the programs in the near future. I'm hedging my bets and burning all points on my upcoming vacation in case they new system is not as good. I'm only getting 8 free nights with what I have for this year, but it's all at luxury resorts.

I recently had Marriott points that were going to expire. I linked my accounts and was able to transfer to my SPG account.

I think once you link your accounts, the points would also extend. It looks like you can freely move the points between the 2 accounts with no loss of value...

No I read the terms and conditions, and linking the accounts did not count as an activity that would qualify for point life extension. That's why I moved them over.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

No I read the terms and conditions, and linking the accounts did not count as an activity that would qualify for point life extension.

Interesting. I moved my points and spent them immediately so I did not bother reading the full disclosure. I wonder if you moved points back after that deadline, if they could then be used....Marriott does have some nicer properties in their portfolio.

After the merger, I was stuck trying to decide between the W and the Ritz for a layover in Hong Kong, as they are basically in the same location and I had enough points between the two accounts for a stay at either of them. My platinum status allows for an upgrade to a suite with SPG + Breakfast, where Marriott only allows an unspecified "upgrade", so I went with SPG because I felt it had better benefits.

For a recent stay at the Ritz, they recognized my platinum status with Marriott and offered free breakfast for two, additional points and a small upgrade. Not sure if that is the practice for other locations as well.

Also, I find that it costs a ton more points to stay at some of the SPG properties. Not sure why The Points Guy value the SPG points more than Marriott.

I had always operated by the rule that if you don't get your points (due to fast reversal or whatever) then it's just part of the risk you take and you accept it. If you call, you are potentially pointing out to them that a ton of people ARE getting points when they are not actually spending any money at the hotel. I have not had points post twice -once at a Marriot brand and once at a Hyatt brand. I think it has to do with how the person who processes the reversal handles the process. If they put you as a non-rev you are screwed. I have had points post about 95% of the time, so as Steve said - it is unusual but it can happen. Again, I am of the mindset that you should chalk it up to bad luck and move on but you should not try to get your points.

Wouldn't it raise a flag that the person might be a mystery shopper?

@LindaM wrote:

For a recent stay at the Ritz, they recognized my platinum status with Marriott and offered free breakfast for two, additional points and a small upgrade.

The breakfast is not guaranteed from what I understand, and the 'small upgrade' thing is not as nearly appetizing as 'best available room, including suites' (SPG Policy).

Though the point value for the W is almost as much as the Ritz, and the basic room is $100 cheaper, the W's have a much wider array of room types than other hotels, and their suites are $4,600/night for the dates of my stay. I'm keeping my fingers crossed there are not too many Platinum members checking in on those dates. They have 5 different suites still available as of right now. The Ritz has exactly one suite in that price range, and I don't think I'd betting that as an upgrade.

Wouldn't an ordinary, non-shopper client wonder why their points aren't posted? I doubt this would be a red flag signifying "Shopper."

Kona Kathie

When you are not paying for the stay and the charges have been reversed on your credit card, why would you be calling to see why your points have not posted?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2016 01:28AM by JASFLALMT.

@kathierost wrote:

Wouldn't an ordinary, non-shopper client wonder why their points aren't posted? I doubt this would be a red flag signifying "Shopper."

Point being that an ordinary, non-shopper likely didn't get their charges reversed and weren't staying at the hotel for free.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2016 10:15PM by JASFLALMT.

It's my understanding that Rewards Programs and Hotels are separate, so if you contacted SPG directly and they saw that you had stayed at the hotel, they wouldn't automatically know that you'd had your charges reversed. If SPG had to reach out to the hotel because the whole stay wasn't showing up, then maybe you'd run into a problem, but I don't think you'd necessarily be IDed if you were just inquiring as to where your points are.

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