Saturday, 10 August 2013

spg gold bonus -- double points or 25% off redemption

i woke up to a nice surprise in my inbox the other day. i guess when you hit gold with spg, they give you a nice welcome bonus. either double starpoints for a month, or 25% off a redemption.
if you were to redeem for the first option, then it would make sense only if you stayed a lot. it would only make sense if your double points bonus is equal or worth more than the latter option.

in a hypothetical scenario, let's say you were to stay at a category 4 hotel which costs 10,000 points a night. a 25% off redemption coupon is equal to 2,500 points. that means that one must spend $1,250 within a month to simply break even. the double points only counts on the base earning rate. so if $1 spent gives you a base of 2 starpoints, then $1,250 will give you a base of 2,500 starpoints. if you double this, then you would get your bonus 2,500 starpoints above your base. 

if you were to stay 5 nights in a row, you would get a) the 5th night free bonus and b) the 25% off bonus. so 5 nights would cost 40,000 points - 25% = 30,000 points. you've gotten a 10,000 point bonus. to break even with the double starpoints option, you'd have to spend $5,000 in hotels in that month you chose.

it's not even a question for me: 25% off a single redemption for me, please! i do like how they give you something that resembles choice, even though the better choice is very clear.

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