Canadian Travel Hacking

Tag: starwood

Limited Time Increase – Earn 25,000 Starpoints with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
This is the card that we use on a daily basis because of the high earn rate and the flexibility!

American Express has upped the sign-up bonus to earn 25,000 Welcome Bonus Starpoints after you charge $1500 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership.

So if you take the 25,000 Starpoints you get with the sign up, and combine Aeroplan’s 35% transfer bonus you actually end up with 40,500 Aeroplan Miles!

This offer runs from July 18 to October 18 so take advantage of it now before you forget and give yourself more time to enjoy those points! Also I don’t agree with many who think this card is ending in November.

This offer ends October 18, 2017.

Here is a roundup of some of the benefits:
- You can earn 2 Starpoints for every dollar of eligible purchases charged to the Card at participating SPG^®* and Marriott Rewards^®* hotels from November 15, 2016 through November 15, 2017
- Earn 1 Starpoint for every $1 in all other purchases charged to the Card.
- Receive a Free Weekend Night Award when you reach $40,000 in purchases each year.
- Enjoy an automatic upgrade to Starwood Gold Preferred Guest membership when you reach $30,000 in purchases each year.
- As a Cardmember, you could earn more Starpoints by referring a friend. For each approved referral you could earn a referral bonus of 10,000 Starpoints.
The last benefit is the most intriguing. If you apply for this card and refer the card to friend’s and family you will receive a bonus of 10,000 Starpoints!

I recommend this card to anyone getting started in travel as the points are flexible and can be transferred to airlines or even to Marriott on a 3:1 basis (i.e. this is worth 75,000 Marriott points).

Here is a link to apply.
July 19, 2017
Leap Year Into Savings at Starwood Hotels

Starwood Hotels and Resorts across Canada are offering guests savings so great they only come around once every four years.

Today only (Feb. 29), participating Sheraton, Westin, Four Points, Le Méridien, W, Element and Aloft hotels are offering travellers the chance to enjoy up to 29% off stays through April 30.

The Leap Day sale is a limited time offer that must be booked by 11:59 p.m. EST today (Feb. 29). Rates vary by property, based on single/double occupancy and availability.

A limited number of rooms are available at each property and blackout dates may apply. Rates require full advance pre-payment, rates are non-refundable, plus taxes and are commissionable to travel agents. These rates are not applicable to groups.

Here is a link to the promo.

February 29, 2016
Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport Trip Report

I have had the pleasure of staying at the Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport (YVR) many times. It is one of my favourite hotels in Vancouver.

It is located close to YVR with a free shuttle, you have a great lounge to watch planes land, close to River Rock Casino and the Canada Line to get downtown, a nice pool and workout area.

Most important, a comfortable bed and large enough rooms to relax in.

Inviting room at Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport

The room was quite spacious and had floor to ceiling windows.

Working area at Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport

Green Living at Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport

Nice sized bathroom with tub/shower at Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport

Coffee/Tea/Welcome Water.

Enjoying the wonderful lounge and seeing the planes land at YVR.

My favourite part was the pool with no one there!

I recommend staying here if you are trying to preserve your Starwood balance. I use only 7,000 points per night (you can get 20,000 points with one credit card signup).

They are also very kid-friendly, both of my daughters received a little package as a thank-you and were entertained!

It is easy enough to get to downtown with the Canada Line and there is free street parking if you don’t want to pay the hotel’s parking fees (this is what we do when we come to the mainland).

Remember that hotels in downtown Vancouver can be quite noisy and you will want to have a car to see many sights outside the City Center so that is why I always recommend this hotel.

It is a steal at only 7,000 SPG points and I have stayed there five times and have always enjoyed it!

June 20, 2015
Uber rewarding Starwood points to bookings
I am excited that I am going to be using Uber on my next trip from the airport.

Uber is partnering with hotel chain Starwood to give riders a bit more incentive to choose the ride-hailing service over a taxi.

Uber passengers can now earn one Starwood rewards point for each dollar they spend on a ride in a car found through the San Francisco-based company’s mobile app. Guests spending the night at one of Starwood’s 1,200 hotels will earn two to four points per dollar spent, depending on their level of status with Stamford, Connecticut-based Starwood.

This is the first global deal where ground transportation passengers can earn hotel points for trips.

Here is the link to register and link your accounts!

Here are some tips to remember:
1. Your email address on your Starwood account must match the email address on your Uber account.
2. You need to have had 1 paid stay in a Starwood property in 2015 to start earning points. Once you’ve had a single stay you’ll earn 1 Starpoint per dollar spent with Uber all year long, up to $10,000 in Uber spending per year.
3. If you use Uber during a stay at a Starwood property then non-elites will earn 2 Starpoints per dollar spent with Uber, Gold and Platinum Starwood elite members will earn 3 Starpoints per dollar spent with Uber, and 75 night Platinum elites will earn 4 Starpoints per dollar spent with Uber. Points will post to your Starwood account 2-4 weeks after the ride.
I am excited as I have a stay coming up to use both services.
February 26, 2015
20,000 Bonus Starwood Points with the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card
This is the main card we use for spending amongst all our credit cards.

The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Personal Card, has an annual fee of $120 but it comes with a bonus 20,000 Starwood points which you can use towards hotels, flights, etc. Each Starwood point is worth at least $0.02, giving you a value of $400 – $120 annual fee.

Here are some of the benefits of the card:
- Earn 20,000 bonus Starpoints® after you charge $500 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership
- Earn 1 Starpoint for every $1 in purchases charged to the Card
- Enjoy a Free Weekend Night Award when you reach $40,000 in purchases each year
- Experience Starwood Gold Preferred Guest status when you reach $30,000 in purchases each year
In my opinion the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Personal Card is the best credit card(s) for earning Air Canada Aeroplan miles, which offer one SPG point per dollar spent on all purchases, and two SPG points per dollar spent at SPG properties.

Starwood has the most airline partners of any transferrable currency, which is partly why it is very flexible. This signup bonus will also get you one or more free nights at any Starwood hotel up to Category 6.

Points can be transferred to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio, and for every 20,000 points transferred you get a 5,000 point bonus, meaning you’re essentially earning 1.25 Aeroplan miles per dollar spent.

I like to transfer to Alaska Airlines or other programs like Avios where I can get 3 flights to Seattle from Victoria!

The hotel redemptions are great as well. One hotel I stay often is the Vancouver Wall Center YVR (close to the Canada Line). Each night is worth close to $160 usually but this bonus gives you almost 3 free nights with no blackout dates!

That is what puts Starwood points ahead of other hotel points – no blackout dates.

Here is the link to get the Starwood American Express Card with the 20,000 bonus Starwood points.
January 22, 2015
Starwood 2014 Annual Category Changes – Canadian Hotels
I am a big Starwood fan (most of the time), no blackout dates, valuable and flexible points, but today just over 20% of all their hotels are changing category, of these 56% are moving down and 44% are moving up.

Most hotels chains reorganize their categories yearly to keep them current with the average rates that they charge. The beauty of hotel points is that there are no blackout dates or capacity controls, if there is a room you can use points for it.

So even if a major event is in town and rates are quadruple what they normally are you can still use the regular amount of points as long as the hotel is not sold out of standard rooms.

This list is subject to change and other hotels can still be added to it.

Starwood’s standard award chart will not change:
If you stay 5 nights with points the 5th night is free.
Category 1 = 2,000 (weekend), 3,000 (weekday).
Category 2 = 3,000 (weekend), 4,000 (weekday).
Category 3 = 7,000
Category 4 = 10,000
Category 5 = 12,000 (Low Season), 16,000 (High Season).
Category 6 = 20,000 (Low Season), 25,000 (High Season).
Category 7 = 30,000 (Low Season), 35,000 (High Season).

Here are the Canadian updates:
- Four Points by Sheraton Winnipeg
  International Airport from a 3 to a 4.
- Four Points by Sheraton Kelowna Airporta 4 to a 3.
- Four Points by Sheraton Kingston a 4 to a 3.
- Four Points by Sheraton Toronto Airport a 3 to a 2.
The major resorts in Hawaii were increased :{
February 21, 2014
Win Free Nights and Bonus Points With Starwood’s Take A Spin Sweepstakes

To celebrate the launch of the new partnership, SPG and Caesars are holding a fun “Take A Spin” sweepstakes where SPG members can earn free nights, bonus Starpoints, a trip to Vegas and more. You can enter once per day per membership number now through February 7. To participate, go to the game page here and enter your SPG number. That will redirect you to a page where you can click a “SPIN,” and like a slot machine, if the three images match up, you win a prize.

Source: http://thepointsguy.com/2014/01/win-free-nights-and-bonus-points-with-starwoods-take-a-spin-sweepstakes/

January 15, 2014
Receive a 25% Bonus When Transferring Hotel Points to British Airways Avios

I love Avios – the frequent flyer program of British Airways. They let me redeem 9,000 Avios points for a round-trip from Victoria to Seattle! This trip usually costs at least $400 return so this is a perfect use of miles.

Convert your hotel loyalty points into Avios and you’ll receive 25% bonus Avios.

Through October 15, 2013, when you convert your hotel points to British Airways Avios, you’ll receive a 25% bonus.

Their hotel partners include Club Carlson, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport, IHG Rewards Club, Marriott Rewards, Shangri-La Golden Circle, and Starwood Preferred Guest.

Each partner has a minimum amount of points required to transfer so keep that in mind if you were looking to just transfer a few to top off your account. Allow 4-6 weeks for the bonus Avios to post. If you transfer 20,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points, they will give you a 25% bonus on 20,000-point transfers as well, so you will have 31,250 instead. This is worth three roundtrips from Victoria to Seattle so this is a great conversion!

September 10, 2013
Earn up to 9,000 Aeroplan Bonus Miles With Starwood – Through December 15, 2013
Starwood has partnered with Aeroplan to offer up to 9,000 bonus miles for stays between now and December 15, 2013.

This is a great way to stack two of my favourite programs, Aeroplan and SPG!

Aeroplan SPG promotion

Here are the promotion details:
- Stay five qualifying nights at Starwood hotels and resorts around the world from September 1 – December 15, 2013 and earn 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles.
- Stay a seventh night and enjoy 2,000 more Bonus Aeroplan Miles.
- Stay a ninth night and earn 2,000 more, up to a maximum of 9,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles during the promotion. Nights can accrue across multiple stays.
Register for the promotion here
September 4, 2013
Best Starwood Resorts to redeem Starwood Points in BC

I am a big Starwood fan (especially with stays like this and this).

Starwood Resorts Whistler

Here are some of my favourites:

1. The Westin Grand Vancouver

This hotel is located in the heart of Vancouver and features easy access to all downtown attractions. This hotel has a great location at the crossroads of trendy Yaletown and Robson streets puts our guests close to the city’s best dining, shopping, and entertainment.

This is a Category 4 property so a 1 night stay costs 10,000 Starpoints.

This hotel costs in peak season over $300 a night.

2. The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver

This is another hotel in Vancouver that has a great location and is a Category 4 property.

This hotel costs in peak season over $250 a night.

3. The Westin Whistler Resort & Spa

This hotel is just steps from both mountain gondolas and in the center of the excitement of the pedestrian friendly Whistler Village. The hotel has been twice-named by Condé Nast as the #1 ski resort hotel in North America

This is an SPG category 5 property and is priced at a whopping 16,000 SPG points per night.

I recommend using your SPG points and booking at the Westin Whistler as nights can cost up to $999 (Rack Rate) during the peak ski season (over New Years). You are basically booking a reward that can cost $5,000 during peak season (not that you would ever pay that amount).

I love my Starwood points as they do not have Blackout dates to redeem them – making them the most flexible rewards out there.

Did you know that if you book four nights with any reward that you can receive a free Fifth night!

The free night offered with any Fifth Night Free Award applies only to the fifth consecutive night within the same stay for which that award was ordered.

One Starwood trick that I have is that my spouse and I each have the credit card and earn SPG points. When we need to make a redemption we simply combine our points for free (free for SPG members in the same house) to get a bigger reward.

I recommend applying for the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card.

SPG American Express Card

With the link below you will receive 21,000 Starwood points upon successful completion of the minimum spending ($1,000 the first three months).

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card Application link.

[styled_box title=”Disclosure” color=”black”]This is the credit card I use for daily spending. [/styled_box]

August 21, 2013