Starwood Launches “SPG Take Three” Summer 2017 Promotion

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Starwood has launched its summer 2017 promotion – SPG Take Three – and registration is now open.

Even though SPG and Marriott rewards are not yet integrated it’s interesting to see how coordinated the two programs already are – they both announced their summer 2017 promotions on the same day (I wrote about Marriott’s MegaBonus Infinite Points promotion earlier today) and the promotions, while different in style, run between exactly the same dates.

What is Starwood Offering With SPG Take Three?

The clue is in the name:

SPG Take Three is offering triple Starpoints on weekends and double Starpoints on weekdays….

….but there is a slight catch – one night stays do not qualify for the promotion.

Here are the headline details of the promotion:

• Register (via this page) by 30 August 2017
• Stay two or more nights at participating SPG^® hotels and resorts between 27 May and 4 September 2017
• Earn triple Starpoints on weekend stays of two or more nights that include a Friday or Saturday night (Thursday or Friday night in the Middle East).
• Earn double Starpoints for all other stays
• Elite-level extra Starpoints earnings and other bonuses will not be doubled or tripled

Starwood’s SPG program offers 2 points per dollar spent as its base points rate so…..

• On weekday stays guests will earn 4 Starpoints/dollar + any elite level bonuses
• On weekend stays guests will earn 6 Starpoints/dollar + any elite level bonuses

Also, per SPG:

Offer is eligible with other Starpoints promotions; however, each offer will award bonus Starpoints independently of each other, and offers may not be combined.

I’m no expert on Starwood properties but a quick look a the list of participating properties would appear to indicate that most (if not all) SPG properties are taking past.

Link to the full terms and conditions for the SPG Take Three promotion

An Added Bonus For American Express SPG Card Holders

After I registered for the SPG Take Three promotion I saw this message:

So, if you hold one either the personal or business versions of the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express credit card, there are yet more points on offer to you….but again there is a small catch.

The important words in that message are “per eligible resort stay”….so a lot of Starwood’s properties are excluded from this added bonus.

The list of properties eligible for the additional 1,500 Starpoints can be found here and, as you’ll see, there are no participating properties in New York, London, Sydney etc…. because none of these properties are classified as “resorts”.

This is slightly disappointing but this will still be a nice bonus for any SPG Amex cardholders visiting a Starwood resort this summer.

The St Regis Bora Bora is included in the SPG Amex cardholder bonus….but that’s unlikely to offset too much of the cost!

Value

I value Starpoints pretty highly…but definitely not as highly as some so my figures will probably differ from others you may come across.

To me a Starpoint is worth somewhere around 1.8 cents so, in this promotion, the double Starpoints offer gives guests an effective rebate of 3.6% while the triple Starpoints offer gives a much more pleasing effective rebate of 7.2%.

If you happen to have one of the SPG Amex cards and are visiting a Starwood resort the 1,500 Starpoint bonus would effectively give you a rebate of a further $27 on your stay.

Bottom Line

For high spenders Starwood’s Take Three promotion looks like will be a better earner than Marriott’s Summer MegaBonus as there’s genuine scope to earn thousands and thousands of bonus points in one stay if you’re paying a lot for your rooms.

Because Marriott is offering a set number of points per stay (regardless of room cost) its promotion doesn’t favour the high spender….. so guests purchasing rooms at the cheaper end of the spectrum will probably get more value out of MegaBonus Infinite Points.

Still, there’s nothing stopping everyone from signing up for both promotions and that’s what everyone should do….because it doesn’t cost a dime.