Yesterday I outlined what I think is wrong with Starwood Preferred Guest: they overpromise and underdeliver on elite benefits (a Platinum without an upgrade at a hotel without club lounge basically gets nothing for their stay) and there aren’t really exceptional points values for redemption at Starwood’s many truly top properties.
I believe these criticisms are fair. And I also find that Hyatt Gold Passport has become more rewarding than Starwood Preferred Guest, though I’m frustrated by Gold Passport’s withdrawal of property-specific “G bonuses” which meant several thousand extra points per stay. Supposedly the removal of these bonuses was due to the manual process to post them and how often members were frustrated in following up to get them. But just eliminating the bonuses doesn’t satisfy members more, Hyatt has said that something will be coming to replace them but it’s been several months and we wait…
While Starwood Preferred Guest has been mostly dormant, resting on its laurels, other hotel programs have been catching up. I tend to hold Starwood to a bit of a higher standard because for many years it really was in my view the best all-around program. And it’s still a good program. It’s just that they haven’t innovated while others have, and they’re no longer head and shoulders above the competition.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, Starwood pioneered no capacity control redemptions — if a standard room is available at one of their hotels, you can use your points. This was revolutionary in the industry. It was Starwood’s unique selling proposition on the redemption side of the program. And they will forever be important for this innovation. But most other hotel programs have since matched — Hilton and Hyatt, Marriott to a slightly lesser extent. And while Priority Club hasn’t matched it precisely I’ve rarely ever seen difficulty in using Priority Club points.
Starwood also offered the best elite level, because what I value is upgrades. While Hilton and Priority Club don’t provide suites as part of their program for elite members (sometimes hotels upgrade members, but it’s their extra generosity, not a program benefit), and Marriott specifically excluded suites from its terms and conditions when members thought it was unclear whether perhaps they should be receiving them, Starwood allowed members to upgrade to ‘standard’ suites at check-in if available. They were the large chain that delivered the better rooms, albeit inconsistently because some hotels have more suites than others, some hotels have more Platinum guests competing for suites than others, and some hotels are more proactive about delivering on this benefit than others. Suites were Starwood’s unique selling proposition on the elite benefit side. While I prefer Hyatt’s confirmed suite benefit for Diamonds, some of my commenters in the earlier post do not. But Starwood is certainly not alone in delivering suites for elites any longer. It no logner sets Starwood apart.
Of course, the very best upgrades for elites remains Intercontinental’s Royal Ambassador program. That’s a hugely inconsistent program, each hotel interprets elite benefits differently — whether on points or paid, whether upgrades are capped to a certain level room, whether the benefit is ‘an executive room or suite’ or the best available executive room or suite, whether Royal Ambassadors simply receive a two-category upgrade regardless of room-type booked. But contacting a hotel, understanding its upgrade procedures, yields better upgrades than anyone else because while Starwood and Hyatt upgrade to standard suites, I’ve used Intercontinental’s program to receive Presidential suites, Diplomatic suites, suites with multiple bathrooms and large ocean balconies. But in addition to being inconsistent they’re quite small, there aren’t nearly so many Intercontinental properties, and with Priority Club Platinum as a complement elite status with Holiday Inn hardly makes up for not having Intercontinental hotels everywhere one might go. Still, the benefits are good and I don’t just mean minibar — they have excellent club lounges, they have 8 am checkin for top elites, and they offer in my view the only late checkout benefit that rivals Starwood’s (though Starwood extends theirs to Gold members).
While everyone has been catching up to Starwood, which innovated clearly in the late 90s and early part of the last decade — and not just in no capacity controls and suites, but also cash and points redemptions (Priority Club and Hilton) for instance — Starwood has either devalued points (like everyone else, in their case through the introduction of new higher award categories and also reduced value for mileage transfers to airline programs). And their innovations really haven’t been especially valuable. The biggest addition to the Starwood program in recent years has been SPG Flights. You can use your points at a low redemption value to buy airline tickets instead of transferring points directly to an airline. This was hyped but I would never recommend using this benefit.
Still, Starwood remains a good program. The biggest draw is that they have lots of really fantastic, aspirational, high-end properties. Sure it takes a ton of points to redeem for those properties compared to redeeming for top hotels through other programs. But they have more places I’d actually want to stay than any other program. And that makes them a draw. (On the other hand, others are drawn to Hilton or Marriott because those programs have hotels anywhere one would want to stay, even if the hotels aren’t the greatest, whereas Starwood is still a smaller program).
Further, other programs have problems too. I do think that if Hyatt or Intercontinental have properties where you travel, those are the two most rewarding offerings — Hyatt all-around, and Intercontinental for Royal Ambassador elite benefits, I don’t value their points nearly as much. But while Starwood isn’t as large as Marriott or Hilton, Hyatt and Intercontinental aren’t as large as Starwood.
But Starwood is, in my view, a better program than Hilton or Marriott or Priority Club.
- Priority Club has no meaningful elite program. Platinum simply doesn’t come with noticeable benefits. And they don’t honor elite benefits on award stays, some hotels will of course but that’s their generosity not the rules of the program. You can’t spend additional points to secure a better room either. Which means I rarely actually want to redeem my points.
- Marriott is everywhere, they’re consistent, and they offer a large program. They’re not that aggressive with promotions, MegaBonus doesn’t excite me. But first and foremost, while their top tier is the toughest to obtain requiring 75 nights in a year, reaching such stratospheres still doesn’t get you suites as part of the program. Please don’t tell me in the comments that you’re a Marriott Platinum and this or that hotel gave you a suite. The program’s terms and conditions do not offer suites, you’re lucking out with the hotel’s generosity above and beyond what they’re required to do for you. The program explicitly added language to say you aren’t entitled to suites about six years ago. Marriott members love their program, and frankly I can’t understand why as long as they refuse to write in a requirement for Platinum members to get suites.
- Hilton HHonors again doesn’t offer suites. There are some great redemption values, the French Polynesia properties Hilton has on Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora got a whole lot less expensive for redemption when they came over from Starwood. The Conrad in the Maldives is far more accessible on points than Starwood’s W. But I don’t consider an executive room — usually just the same room anywhere else in the hotel but on the same floor as the club lounge — to be a real upgrade. They introduced cash and points and are beginning to roll it out and it looks like a good benefit. But they also introduced spending additional points for upgraded rooms (which Starwood, Marriott, and Hyatt offer) and this looks like less of a good value, since they’re making you basically buy up the difference in room rate with your points valued at around a fixed three-fifths of a cent per point. No great value there.
I still believe Starwood Preferred Guest is a better program than Marriott Rewards, Priority Club, and Hilton HHonors — even though Starwood isn’t all that generous for points-earning based on in-hotel spend. I value Starwood’s redemptions and I respect their elite benefits. It’s just that I think they’re being overtaken. The landscape has gotten much more competitive and Starwood hasn’t improved nearly as much as the other programs. And I judge them with a bit of a higher standard because they were so good just a few years ago, they were so innovative, and they’re no longer the clear leader. So my criticisms are a bit unfair perhaps, I spill much more electronic ink criticizing them than I do criticizing Marriott Rewards. But that’s because I love them deep down, I know they can get their mojo back. And because I want my hordes of points accumulated on their co-branded American Express to become that much more valuable…
It’s amazing how much you echo my sentiments with this pair of posts Gary.
Thanks,
David
Suites upgrades have been a mirage for me since making Platinum last year. Reading through the success and failure threads on FT, seems Asia properties do a good job, but the US based ones do all they can to NOT upgrade you. I frequently stay at W’s due to amazing corporate rates and I have only ever seen this upgrade benefit once. Frankly I’d rather be in a program like Marriott that says it WON’T upgrade when it does than be in a program like SPG that says it will upgrade but DOESN’T
If I did not get the good corporate rates I would likely be very loyal to Hyatt, but I can’t justify spending nearly twice as much on the base rate for a program. But I very much would like to see SPG step it up with the ability to have confirmed upgrades so that I can actually properly experience the benefit
Wholeheartedly agree. The lack of remaining at the forefront of benefits and/or promotions is the reason I don’t bother qualifying for Platinum status any longer even though I was at the top rungs for 10 years.
You are correct in that being critical of Starwood & the SPG program is only because we love them more. Like a wayward child.
As a Hilton Gold and Diamond, I have received upgrades to suites, but this is not a defined benefit of the HHonors program. These types of upgrades tend to come from repeat loyalty at a specific hotel. I find Hilton to often offer much better rates through their sales or special offers than Hyatt or Starwood. If there are ways to get competitive rates with these companies, I am all keen to book them.
I am gold and platinum at several of these chains. I have been planning a few bookings and I have been trying to figure out where to focus my bookings. These posts were helpful in helping to point out some strengths and weaknesses.
I think the key difference (as was mentioned) is that HHonors, Priority Club, and Marriott have properties everywhere. Hyatt is starting to build more with Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites. As stated Starwood is resting on their laurels and for most travelers the number of properties is a huge consideration. To my knowledge, Starwood has no plans to grow outside of extremely urban areas.
You know, the rant is echoed. However, I come from the “be satisfied with what you get camp”, and frankly a breakfast at The Hilton Garden Inn as a Hilton Gold (or Diamond) is fine by me. International Hiltons and Conrads treat me really well too.
As for Priority Club Platinum, I find that I get treated really well….at International locations. Back in the days of The Holiday Inn Tobu Narita (which has been sold), so long as I received a room on the highest floor on the West side, rather than the East side, I would bow, bow, bow……Thank you so much……and all the bonus points too at $50.00 a night……then off to The IC Grand Stanford for 30,000 PC points in HKG (and no B-fast nevertheless, now PC raised that to 40K, what a nerve).
Therefore, yes…..it really is the individual hotel. Therefore, just stay at those that are better than the others. I’m happy with what I described above.
Wait! There’s a newspaper! I can’t believe it! The benefit came through……something to read (I’m happy!) 😉
Maybe I have been lucky in the upgrade lottery. SPG has come through with some unbelievable upgrades that blew me away at the Mystique in Santorini and at the Palace in Madrid to name just a few. Yes, sometimes I don’t get upgraded, but the times SPG has come through have left some indelible memories. I would like to see a few guaranteed upgraded liie Hyatt from SPG, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we were all competing to use them at the top SPG properties.
One benefit of Hilton Honors that was left off was the free breakfast to gold and diamond elites. Hilton also has stand-by upgrade awards where you pay a small amount to get a suite if one is available and pay nothing extra if one is not available. Each person has their priorites, but I value the free breakfast everytime, plus their breadth of locations
Gary,
Not sure you had to “apologize” for the previous post, because everything you wrote was spot on. My largest attraction to SPG is the SPG AmEx. It still is tops, although I’ve been cheating on them because of the epic sign-up bonuses on other cards this year.
But SPG hasn’t innovated enough to make them my go-to program for paid stays. Why? Because I can’t make platinum, and gold isn’t worth going out of my way. I’ve said this a few times now (on various forums) but for elite status to be meaningful, one must receive some sort of tangible benefit (besides extra points) with every stay. At least the airlines did it right — bottom tier still allows upgrades, but more so, allows priority check-in and early boarding (and these days, waived baggage charges and discounts on premium seating ala Delta) — things I wouldn’t want to give up by taking a one-off flight on a competitor.
But SPG gold does none of that. It gets me 4pm late check-out that can only be used at city hotels, and even then, might not be something I’d actually use on that stay. Free breakfast or internet would be nice (but I can get those at a mid-tier chain.)
For SPG to pull ahead of the pack, it must make gold a bit more meaningful and perhaps guarantee some suite upgrades to Platinum.
Gary, as Dan suggests, you really need to differentiate between top level Plats and the rest of us. SPG Gold is pretty meaningless, particularly as the 4pm late checkout is not guaranteed (and often unavail) at resorts – where I need it the most. SPG is also weak in some key leisure markets here – Lake Tahoe, San Luis Obispo and Santa Monica come to mind.
By contrast Marriott has much better geographic coverage, has much better midrange properties (RI and Courtyard) and has matched SPG’s 4+1 free night awards. And Hilton has better Gold benefits.
So why does an SPG non-status guy like me keep coming back to SPG properties? The promos and award options. Only SPG offers pay-your-birthyear rates, plus stay-2 paid, get-1 award night offers (currently stay-3) the latter since at least 2004. And SPG has the best cash+points deals which appeal to those of us who don’t accumulate a lot of points. Hyatt was the only program that came close with FFNs, and has now dropped back without them.
I have been SPG Platinum for 10years now here in Europe and I have seen the programme deteriorate. It is now the worst of the programme’s. Their concierges are bad, upgrades not done, no special deals. Why have Sheraton/Westin/W/Luxury become so bad?!?? They just don’t do anything anymore for you as a frequent traveller. I also got the top status at Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Interconti. Especially Marriott and Hilton Diamond – those 2 have really become fantastic to me!! Thanks Rewards and HHonors. Keep the improvements coming to me road warrior and you deserve my frequent business.
Over the years, I have held the top (regular person)-tier elite status with Marriott, Hilton, SPG and Hyatt. Currently, Hilton and SPG have dropped off my radar, unless they are having an exceptional promotion, but I am still a MR Plat and a HGP Diamond.
Marriott Platinum may be difficult to obtain, but one of their (admittedly) unpublished “benefits” has been that it is easier to MAINTAIN than it is to earn initially. I have been a Plat for about 10 years, but there have been some years where I only have stayed about 60 nights. Usually, I get a letter from them towards the first of September telling me that if I stay 18 nights in the fourth quarter, they will allow me to retain my status. Coincidentally, a lot of my travel generally occurs in the fourth quarter, so this works out for me. They could end this “unpublished benefit” any time, but I have gotten the letter more than once or twice.
You said “…Marriott members love their program, and frankly I can’t understand why…” I’m not going to brag about suite upgrades – I usually DON’T get them. But, I think I can quantify it a little. You said that SPG “overpromise(s) and underdeliver(s) on elite benefits…” In my (limited) view, one of the things Marriott does right is that it delivers exactly what it promises. Their Elite Benefits Guarantee is excellent – if something isn’t right, and they can’t make it right – they make it right with cash money. You know what that usually means? It’s right to begin with. I don’t arrive at a Marriott to find my guaranteed bed type not available – ever. It’s happened to me at both Hyatt and Holiday Inn in the past month. At the HI, I was given a smoking room on top of it all. Ugh. Welcome amenity not delivered? They pay $100. Hyatt? How many times have you had to call because the points don’t post correctly? Arrive to the hotel to find it oversold for the night? Cash money on the spot from Marriott, plus your first night’s stay comped, plus two free night certificates, plus stay and point credit. You know how many times I have been walked from a Marriott in 10 years? Exactly once.
Just deliver what you promise and I am a happy guy. For the most part, Marriott really does do that.
Great post and excellent assessment Mr.Leff. Please no apologies necessary for the spot on criticisms.
What might have been more appropriate than an apology would be what’s right with SPG as well in a separate post? Today in keeping with whats of need of improvement
SPG may be the single most exceptional program ever conceived father time has certainly not been all that good to this program. Though some hotels to their credit exceed or meet expectations one must seek these hotels out in particular. Starwood and SPG at this point of the game should have upped the bar in member satisfaction in almost any hotel a top tier guest checks into
That doesn’t just come from a well written program alone
It must be excecuted consistently.
The SPG program has banked on its past and not its future. This is not to say SPG doesn’t still remain a good program it’s just that it’s not a game changer any more the way it was when it caught the world by storm in 1999.It was a destination and the top program a frequent traveler should have to particpate in back when.
There was a day when it was perceived by many the number one most valuable point currency in history.It was the envy of the industry and those that were’t engaged /enrolled members. No longer.Thats not to say that there aren’t many satisfied members of this program still to this day…….It depends on members experience elsehwere to compare
Along the way SPG has lost its ability to innovate and deliver on its promise and in a very competitive and ongoing challenging environment. My guess it became consumed by the bean counters and not looking at locking up long term and lifetime loyalty.That’s sad as program improvement and guest retention doesn’t have to mean major expense if you simply enforce promised benefits and make hotels accountable within reason.Add some additional meaningful benefits don’t have to come at a cost.
After 12 years as a Platinum member I am strongly considering moving on and just pay for the room or suite in the select Starwood hotels I actually like.I am tired of staying in subpar properties at high rates just to remain elite. I have less than pleasurable stays at some properties to stay elite and then deal with Platinum status recognition inconsistency.I routinely get consistently better treatent in Gold Passport and as a Royal Ambassador.
Starwood’s lack of brand assurance for both the program and with experiences at full service properties for overall experience and customer satisfaction also are in need of improvement
Focal Points
• Inability of hotels to frequently not upgrade members fairly (nor be held accountable in any way by Starwood/SPG)
• I dislike the 4 Points by Sheraton brand where I don’t want to stay in it even free of charge (perhaps off topic and personal)
• Lack of free breakfast benefit for Plats
• Severe overpricing of many hotels in general and inflated rack rates when trying to redeem 50% off awards
• Questionable supply of so called standard award rooms for free night redemption
• Outrageous inflated redemption costs for free night rooms at the upper category better hotels
How about 140k per night in Bora Bora?! I questioned many 40 SPG members not one member had a clue any redemption could be that high no single member guessed over 70,000 for a single night.All were shocked
• Lack of lifetime elite status benefit for those of us who have supported SPG since inception through the good and the bad times
• Lack of Cash and Points awards ( individual hotels may withhold all available supply it chooses)
It is interesting to note that other programs that have borrowed the cash and points redemption model have outstanding supply of rooms making their point currencies more valuable IMO
Because I now personally see SPGs point currency as somewhat slightly weaker than others I am also spending elsewhere other than my American Express SPG/Starwood card which for over a decade was my primary credit card. As just one example I have recently returned to Membership Rewards as one example. I earn 3 miles per dollar on air travel and two on gas and groceries.The sign up offer was an incredible 75,000 points and no annual fee for the first year
I also enjoy as well as a wide variety of Visa and Master Card products that engage me more as a member. Starwood has also reduced or eliminated significantly its former compelling partnership promotions with American Express.
It’s been a great a run and I wish SPG well it’s probably time to move on for this member. Having said that I will always have one foot in the door for those select SPG properties that do an exceptional job and with select airline partners its a great mile earning program.Having said that I became a member to stay in the hotels receive good value and come to expect highly satisfactory recognition on revenue or redemption most of the time………
Cheers