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.

sheraton bellevue and the westin bellevue -- mattress run weekend july 5-7

so last weekend, we did another mattress run in seattle. i am aiming for spg gold status (10 stays per year). as a point of reference, spg platinum status is a bit more ambitious, requiring 25 stays per year.

2013 stay #8
we drove down to bellevue and checked in at the sheraton bellevue. it's an older hotel, nice amenities. we booked using the mobile app so as to capitalize on the 500 mobile app booking bonus and 2nd trimester double points promo. we booked the AAA rate, and they came up with two types of packages. both were fully refundable. one offered a room, the other offered a room and a free buffet breakfast. for the exact same price. so, obviously, i booked the free breakfast. and when i tipped the waiter at the hotel restaurant, i made sure to charge the tip to my room: you still get SPG points for that kind of thing.

2013 stay #9
for the next night, i opted to book at the westin just a kilometer down the road. the westin bellevue is a category 5 hotel which was having a hot rate AAA promotion. because it was specifically excluded from the 2nd trimester promotion, i ended up booking on points hound for their double dip -- earning extra pointshound points on american airlines plus earning my stay credit and starwood points. i can confirm now that this works as advertised.

the westin was actually a pretty nice hotel. a pristine lobby. the check-in agent was training someone else, and so she was very careful to do everything by the book. for instance, for the first time ever, i was asked for my AAA membership (luckily i actually am a member!). she made sure that she acknowledged my preferred plus status (which everyone can get by having their co-branded amex ... which i no longer have), and she made it a point to let me know that she upgraded my room to a higher level. very nice.

and then there's the room:

blanky and friends make an appearance by accident ...

a regular room, a nice view. and perhaps the most important qualifier: clean. i enjoyed the leaf-shaped bars of soap. there is one sitting in my bathroom at home now.

conclusion: another two successful stays and on track for gold status by the end of the month. i don't think i'll be able to make platinum. and the bf was only slightly (?) irritated by having to pack up and move halfway in between. but one day, i'll convince him that it was worth it.

the joys of an upgraded room

the starwood preferred guest by american express is a nice credit card to have. i've already described its benefits in previous posts somewhat, so i won't talk about it again here. however, one of the benefits i found out about by accident two years ago was the fact that it upgrades your status to preferred plus. the three main status levels are preferred (i.e., entry level), gold, and platinum. on the starwood site, it doesn't talk about preferred plus at all. asides from having an spg-affiliated credit card, you can also get the preferred plus status by having various corporate affiliations or by being a member of your local auto association.

searching the web reveals a little bit about the preferred plus level. according to the starwood lurker on milepoint (the company representative on a frequent traveler message board), it essentially gives you gold status minus the 50% bonus points. in other words, you are entitled to:

• space available room enhancements (upgrades)
• 4pm late check-out where feasible
• a welcome gift (of bonus points or beverages etc.)

the problem with having an unpublished tier and an unpublished benefit is that whether you actually receive the benefit is hit-or-miss at the hotel. you can't pull out an official webpage or show the check-in agent your membership package that explains the benefits when those same benefits are denied. you simply have no ground to stand upon. for example, i've never gotten a welcome gift. i've been told that i was only allowed a 2pm late checkout instead of 4pm. i'm 50/50 for room upgrades. the reason for striving for gold status (or higher) is so that i can get more consistently delivered benefits that come with being a frequent stayer.

the sheraton bellevue on this trip gave me an enhanced room. they put me on a higher floor, which i suppose counts as being enhanced. the stay before that, they had upgraded my room to a sheraton club room, which meant that i had access to the sheraton club lounge with free breakfast and internet. that was a very much appreciated room upgrade that had a quantifiable monetary value.

the last time i was at the four points seattle downtown, they didn't do anything to my room. what i paid for was exactly what i had gotten: a regular room on a lower level. when we arrived today, we indeed got a room upgrade to a pseudo-suite -- all that was missing was a wall to the bedroom:

a living room with a hide-a-bed

a sink, microwave, and a fridge in the cabinet below. had we known we were getting an upgraded room, we would have bought more cold snacks from the QFC next door!

our bed with another tv, just in case your eyes weren't good enough to see the other tv located 12 feet away

the nice, spacious bathroom with two separate entrances

now that's a benefit worth striving for. as the boyfriend says, "this room is bigger than our apartment." and indeed he's right ...

on the road to status: seattle mattress run + 24/7 parcels

and yet another episode of mattress running has begun. this is for stays #5 and 6 of the year for the starwood program. we arrived late last night, having left vancouver at around 7pm or so. we arrived at the sheraton bellevue and promptly went to bed. today, we are going to be moving to the four points by sheraton, downtown seattle. two different hotels, slightly more work, but totally worth the extra stay credit. as an aside, it is cheaper to stay in bellevue than it is to stay in seattle proper.

en route, we passed by blaine, washington, which is about a 30 minutes' drive from vancouver. we stopped off there to pick up my friend's um ... expensive ... boots that she bought from online. she introduced me to 24/7 parcels which is a service aimed specifically at vancouverites. they understand that american versions of websites (e.g., amazon.com) usually offer lower prices compared to their  canadian counterparts but have exorbitant shipping rates to canada. other sites don't even ship to canada. 24/7 parcels gives you an american shipping address in exchange for a $3 charge per parcel (and $0.50-$1.00/day beyond 7 days). there are no membership fees. it effectively cuts your shipping costs to $3 a shipment, provided you're heading en route to seattle anyway. it's best to lump this in with a weekend trip stateside so that you can avoid paying duty charges.

there are lots of shipping services in blaine. lots. they all charge roughly the same amount. some charge a yearly membership fee. most are open during regular banking business hours (9-5 m-f, 9-12 saturday). what i like about 24/7 parcels is that like the name suggests, you can pick up your parcels at any time. they text you a code that you enter to get into the building. you use that same code on a keypad inside that will then electronically open a storage locker. it then debits your account the amount owed.

the last time i did my mattress run, my friend had her package sent to blaine enterprises. i arrived on easter monday (not a federal holiday) at 4pm, thinking that they normally close at 5pm. but, to my irritation, i found that they decided that it was a holiday. they closed at 1pm that day and my trip was wasted. 24/7 eliminates that problem, and i think i will use them again.

on the road to status: mattress run mar 30 - apr 1

a friend of mine from wisconsin was telling me over coffee last december about his usual summer ritual. during the spring/summer semesters, he goes back home to wisconsin to work. because it's not the most exciting place in the world, he takes weekly roadtrips to nearby chicago for the weekends. and because he consolidates all of his nights at hilton properties (he has a corporate discount with them too), he was bragging to me about his hilton hhonors diamond status. he hints at his room upgrades: "i usually get a suite with a jacuzzi," he said to me one time, sighing as if it were a burden to have.

and that's when i decided to make my own drive for status. i fly enough to know to consolidate my flight miles with asiana airlines, a star alliance partner. now every time i fly a star alliance partner, especially air canada, i don't have to worry about luggage fees, don't have to worry about trying to cram my luggage in the overhead bins, and i usually get to stock up with goodies from the lounge before flights. i used to not care about my hotel stays. until this year that is, after my friend made me realize that actually, i should probably be doing the same strategy with my hotels.

starwood preferred guest is the hotel program for westin, sheraton, four points, aloft, W etc. it's one of the smaller programs out there with just over 1,000 properties (compared with the intercontinental hotel group that has over 4500 properties over 100 countries, and where you can buy top tier for just 120$ a year). starwood's program has three tiers: preferred, gold, and platinum. the higher you go, the more benefits you get.

1) preferred: base level, no stays or nights required
2) gold: 10 stays or 25 nights per calendar year
3) platinum: 25 stays or 50 nights per calendar year

if i look at my travel patterns, i think i could easily get gold status in a year. if i am strategic enough, i may be able to get platinum. a stay is defined as the number of check ins. so if you stay fewer nights a year but take lots of road trips (which is my typical profile), it makes sense to qualify for status on stays. if you take long trips many times a year, it makes sense to qualify on nights. but just to make things difficult, check-ins at the same hotel on consecutive nights are all consolidated into a single stay. another caveat is that you have to book directly with the hotel website, and not via expedia or hotels.com. therefore, no chance for a best price guarantee with expedia.

and so this brings me to the idea of a mattress run, defined in the travel world as trying to earn as many qualifying stays or nights for as cheap as possible. it's the sister of the frequent flier's mileage run. a true mileage run/mattress run would look purely at price and opportunity cost in order to maximize the qualifying miles, stays, and nights in order to reach status. i like seattle. i know people in seattle. so i'm willing to pay a bit more to earn my qualifying stays and nights.

so this weekend is seattle. i checked in to the sheraton bellevue last night, and got a complimentary upgrade to the sheraton club level, which included the club lounge, free wifi, and breakfast. tonight, i drive back to my trusted seattle hotel, four points by sheraton seattle. two hotel stay credits this weekend, bringing my total for the year up to 4. and i do this again in a few weeks with the bf. i have a few free hotel nights which also count. rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. do this enough times and you'll be gold. do this once a month, and you'll be platinum.

let's see how this year turns out.