No Suite Upgrades All Year And SPG’s Apology

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One of the most promising benefits of the SPG Platinum status after 50 nights, is the ability to redeem 10 suite night upgrades. I say promising because they are hit or miss. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to use any of my 10 suite night upgrades this year. That’s a bummer. I’ve tried and tried and tried, but no luck. It isn’t earthshattering to me when it doesn’t happen because I’ve actually significantly discounted the benefit in my mind. I’ve even gone to the point of booking two rooms, one as the primary and the other as backup-which is often used when we travel as a family.

Now SPG apparently agrees with me. They’d like me to see the suite night awards redeemed as well.

SPG Suite Nights 2013 Message

I’m going for lifetime Platinum with SPG this year and I have to admit, this relationship is starting to feel like the one I had with the Delta Medallion upgrade certificates. I got smart and stopped requesting those. But the suite nights are still there for those who stay in SPG hotels over the 50 night threshold.

So I’m going to give it a shot and try to upgrade using the suite upgrades later this month. Wish me luck.

What’s your upgrade percentage using the suite night upgrades? Do you wish there was another benefit to select instead? Maybe the ability to get a % off award stay coupon instead of the suite night awards? Choice is always good in my opinion. Be sure you use any suite night awards that you have left in your account before they expire.

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Comments

  1. Aren’t the ten suite nights given after 50 nights. I just got mine and 50 nights is all I have this year.

  2. I had some upgrades clear at two St. Regis’s in the off season.
    But a regular sheraton in a non-touristy area in the offseason did not- go figure!
    I’m keepin the locations non-specific on purpose, but the way SPG does the SNA upgrades and the Your24 Checkin benefit leaves much to be desired. I have both.
    I’m 0 for 8 on the Your24 and 2 for 4 on the suite upgrades. Go figure.
    I’ll make platinum on SPG again this year, but am switching to Hyatt from next year (Diamond this year already)

  3. Hi Jonathan / markj – Thanks. Fixed.

    Hi Ryan – I agree. What an enhancement that would be 🙂 I’d have 100 suite nights awards in my account in 10 years for not using them, and not for a lack of trying 🙂

  4. I have used about half of my suite night awards. It has been hit or miss and in some cases unnecessary.

    As a Platinum I have had several Sheraton’s upgrade me to a suite without awards (business travel that I didn’t want to waste my awards on.)

    I was able to use one of my awards for the St. Regis NYC which was fantastic with the complimentary Butler services. But then I have had it rejected a couple of times at properties that I would have thought for sure would have approved its use.

    What bothers me the most I suppose is that as a Platinum member we should generally be upgraded to at least a junior suite if available anyway. The value of Suite Night awards are for those events that I want to Guarantee a suite like when I take a vacation. Making it hit or miss really detracts from the value of this award. Even if they made it harder to earn to justify the cost like raising the qualification to 75 nights I would be ok as long as the awards could be locked in.

    I imagine that since these awards are based on space availability 1 week out it is a way for the hotels to fill the rooms that would otherwise go unoccupied. But again as a Platinum I would expect that some of those would have been awarded to me anyways.

  5. I’ve had mostly/mixed success. I’ve only tried them on leisure stays – a ton of my stays are 1-night business stays where there’s little point to burning an instrument.
    St regis deer valley – sucess for 3-night ski trip, but required lurker intervention
    Sheraton Port Douglas – 2-night stay did not clear as property was sold out for aussie school holidays so no complaint with that. They were actually walking an extremely agitated woman when we arrived. Ended up being upgraded to the blog-famous Captain Owen Suite anyway.
    Sheraton on the Park Sydney – one night stay cleared
    W Minneapolis – one-night stay cleared

    There’s a better than average chance I’ll either burn some on stays I wouldn’t use them on otherwise or have some expire, but that’s more from splitting leisure travel with hyatt and nonaffiliated hotels than anything else. Also a few stays where there was no option to apply.

  6. I’ve been fairly unsuccessful finding availability for Suite Night Upgrades. I had a property make an exception for me a couple months out that had nothing to do with the normal suite inventory. Other than that, bubkus. My Ambassador was pretty “meh” the first 6 months of the year as well. Not much in the way of motivation to shoot for 100 nights again this year. I’ll still churn my way to lifetime status but I doubt I’ll see much North of 50 nights in the future.

  7. it would be nice if this benefit didn’t require one to go through the process, then contact one of the Lurkers, then stand on one foot and count to 1,000, then eat two red peppers and drink a glass of warm milk. Point is, in many cases the only way to get it to work is to make the Lurkers work the system for you…and the Lurkers even encourage people to have them do so…a further indictment of the false benefit.

  8. I’ll be ending 2013 with 20 Suite Night Awards….(10 from 2013/10 earned for next year)….Tried repeatedly to use these with ZERO success. I only tried to use these on family outings–when I really needed a suite to make the wife/baby happy–but got no love on any of our reservations.

    Don’t even think about using these in Anaheim….was told “suites are closed for the off season”?? at one property and flat out “NO” at another…(ended up booking adjoining rooms for the family)….my next Disney trip will be to the Disney Lodge or Hyatt (we go twice a year, every year).

    So far, not impressed with Suite Night Awards…..

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