Starwood’s upcoming spring/summer promotion was just shared on their website, although registration won’t be open until May 3. The actual promotional period will run from May 9 to July 31, 2016.
During “SPG Triple Up” you can earn bonus Starpoints in a variety of ways depending on where and when you stay. (As usual, it seems that Starwood makes this more complicated than it needs to be — although not quite as bad as IHG and Marriott’s custom offers.)
- Earn triple Starpoints (6 total per dollar) for stays at Sheraton hotels.
- Earn double Starpoints (4 total per dollar) for stays at other Starwood brands.
- Earn 1,000 bonus Starpoints for weekend stays that include a Friday or Saturday night (Thursday or Friday night in the Middle East). These are in additional to the double or triple points above.
In all cases, eligible stays must be two nights or more; single-night stays will not qualify for any bonus points. Any bonuses apply to the base points only, not the extra points some members earn for elite status. Check out the full Terms & Conditions.
Starwood has been heavily promoting the Sheraton brand recently, especially as it tries to reinvigorate it and create a new class of “Sheraton Grand” properties that — it hopes — will clarify brand standards. This may explain why they’re offering triple points at these hotels. Double points for other properties is more typical.
What’s also typical is that Starwood has a limited selection of participating hotels. In the past it has excluded every Seattle property, but I see many of them on this list — so I’m glad for that. Maybe some are becoming more cooperative or SPG is pushing harder. In any case, consider this mattress run scenario to book extra nights for elite status:
Book a two-night stay at an inexpensive Sheraton for $100 per night. Earn triple points for a total of 1,200 Starpoints. Then get another 1,000 bonus points if you book it over a slow weekend (business hotels tend to be easier — Seattle would be hopping with tourists). If we say Starpoints are worth 2.2 cents each, then that’s close to $50 back on a $200++ stay. Not enough for me to book mattress runs with abandon, but certainly attractive if I were close to qualifying.
