so i bought my way to starwood platinum status last year ...

last year, despite a car accident washington state, i decided to run for platinum status with starwood. i had planned an 8-stay mattress run between seattle and portland but that was cut short after just two nights. so i was left with a 6 night deficit.

i called the sheraton portland airport the monday of my accident to tell them that i wouldn't be able to make it in that night. given that it wasn't a prepaid rate, they were kind enough to cancel the reservation without penalty despite being past the cancellation period. i called the four points by sheraton portland east to ask if i could cancel my award stay for the following day, despite being past the cancellation deadline. they kindly agreed to refund me the points as well.

however, a few days later, i realized that the four points had charged me a $135 no show rate while giving me a stay credit at the same time for it. i called in to the office and it was eventually all sorted out. i was certain that they'd also reverse the stay credit, but they didn't.

so i was in this odd position of only needing 5 extra stay credits in the month of december to earn platinum status. and i decided to go for it.

total cost:

• i stayed at various hotels within my own cities (vancouver and calgary). i did not include the cost of time, nor did i include the cost of "embarrassment."
• each paid hotel night cost roughly $130 on average after taxes. i had one category 3 hotel stay at 7,000 points. i stayed six nights (thus six stays) in total just in case they decided to reverse that extra stay credit (which they didn't end up doing). because i get a 2% rebate on my no-fee mbna mastercard, the cash portion went down to $637. 
• when redeeming for category 2 hotels, you can easily get a 3 cent per point return. therefore, 7,000 points is equal to $210.
• total cost: $847.
• i also took into consideration the fact that throughout the year, i split up numerous trips into multiple stays (e.g., two different hotels over the weekend instead of staying all throughout).

utility of the mattress run:

• two of those nights were for date night purposes with the +1. by staying in downtown calgary one night, we went out for drinks without having to worry about the $60 cab fare home. we enjoyed the free breakfast in the lounge which i would value at $10 each. we also enjoyed the free evening appetizers which i would value at $5 each. total value for that night out was $90.

benefits:

• i was one night away from their 2013 third trimester promo bonus (double points, and 2,500 points until december 15). so for two of my nights, i got 492 double points and 2,500 bonus points, for a total of 2,992 points.
• all of my extra stays were either sheraton or westins. as a gold member, i received 250 points for each stay except for my last one, where i opted for a movie instead (valued at $16.79). if we value the movie at 500 points, that means that i received 1,750 points.
• all of my stays received a base 3 starpoints per dollar spent before taxes. i received 1,755 starpoints.
• i think i received an extra 118 starpoints out of error. but i honestly am not motivated enough to go through all my statements to confirm.
• in total, i received 6,497 points, which would be equal to $195.

future quantifiable benefits:

• i expect that i will have 25 stays in the 2014 year, at a 1:1 ratio between hotels that offer a 250 point platinum amenity bonus or 500 point amenity bonus. this is an additional 125 to 250 bonus points compared to the gold amenity. thus, i expect to earn 187.5 extra point being average per stay. this works out to 4,687 extra platinum points this year. that's worth $140.
• there is guaranteed internet access as a platinum. in america, despite having my mobile internet hospot from walmart, hotel wifi is generally faster and more convenient. as a gold member, you can have free internet in exchange for your gold amenity. for westin and sheraton, this is worth 250 points. therefore, for my 12 westin/sheraton stays a year, i will get the equivalent of 3,000 points. this is worth $90. (the rest of my stays are at four points, where they have free wifi for everyone).
• as a platinum, i'll have access to continental breakfast for two as one of my amenity choices, which i don't value very much because i'm not a continental breakfast kind of guy. therefore, i'd take the points instead.
• as a platinum, i have access to the sheraton club lounges where available. sometimes there are great free hot food options during evening hours (sheraton eau claire calgary), usually, it's just free morning breakfast for two. my AAA rate usually gives me free breakfast at the sheratons that i stay at anyway, so this isn't really a benefit to me. the free beverages (i save on buying coffee for two) is probably $5 a night. at 12 sheraton nights a year, that's worth $60.
• total quantifiable benefit: $290, possibly more if i stay at a sheraton that doesn't give me free breakfast with the AAA rate.

qualitative benefits:

• upgrades to best available room, including suites. however, upon check in to the sheraton bellevue just now, they simply put me on a club floor. it's really nothing fancy.
• access to the platinum concierge service, which i apparently can't use unless i'm overseas.
• access to the platinum call center.

total analysis:
i spent $847. i had $90 in savings, i got back $195 in points, and $290 in other quantifiable benefits. this equates to a $272 investment for a year of platinum. it's not as much as my mileage run 3 years ago that earned me star gold status with asiana airlines. the quantifiable benefits of star gold status were clearly worth it. however, we will see whether the qualitative benefits of starwood platinum status is worth it.