Starwood Preferred Guest

One of the great advantages of travel and vacationing today is the added flexibility and benefits you can gain through rewards programs, such as the Starwood Preferred Guest program, also known as SPG. If you own Starwood timeshare that you purchased directly through Starwood Vacation Ownership, you gained Gold Preferred status in the SPG program the minute you closed your deal.

Gold Preferred Guest status is the middle tier of membership in the Starwood rewards program, with Starwood Preferred Guest being the first status and Platinum Preferred status being the program’s highest level. However, buying Starwood timeshare from SVO is far from the only way you can take advantage of all that the Starwood Preferred Guest program offers. The SPG rewards program is open to everyone who chooses to enroll.

Starwood Preferred Guests enjoy free hotel night’s stay awards, late checkout times, air travel awards, room upgrades, car rental discounts, and a host of additional special resort guest privileges. When you enroll in the SPG rewards program, (enrollment is free) you immediately begin earning StarPoints for every dollar you spend on a Starwood hotel room, restaurant dining, even the in-room movies you rent during your hotel stay. You can also connect your Delta SkyMiles rewards to your SPG account and take advantage of crossover rewards—how’s that for an easy way to accumulate valued perks?

Starwood Preferred Guest Gold and Platinum Rewards

SPG Gold takes your vacation and travel benefits beyond the level of Starwood Preferred Guest, adding more options, more perks, and more ways to earn rewards faster. SPG Gold even includes a Lifetime Gold status you can earn by logging 250 eligible room night stays total and five years of Gold SPG Status. Hit this milestone, and you can enjoy Starwood Gold status for life!

Of course, there’s nothing quite like platinum, especially when it is SPG Platinum. This all-out luxury program affords you the ultimate in Starwood vacationing and travel benefits. Just as there is with SPG Gold, there is now a lifetime option for Platinum status. When you have tallied 500 eligible room night stays and held ten years of SPG Platinum status, you can stop counting; you’ll be Starwood Platinum for the rest of your life.

Where Will Preferred Guest Rewards Take You?

Using your StarPoints as “currency” to exchange for all the wonderful benefits the program offers, you can convert your points into travel rewards and travel excursions. You can also buy additional Star Points to help you achieve your travel goals faster.

Starwood Preferred Guests have access to vacations in more than 1,100 resorts including Starwood Hotel Partners and the nine distinctive Starwood hotel brands: Westin, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft (for unique urban experiences), W Hotels Worldwide, Element by Westin, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, and St. Regis Hotels.

Starwood Vacation Ownership timeshare owners, who purchased directly from SVO, have the option to convert their timeshare week or weeks (in the form of Starwood Vacation Villas StarOptions) into StarPoints they can use as part of the SPG rewards program. To take advantage of this weeks-to-points conversion, Starwood timeshare owners must contact Starwood Owner Services between October 1 of the year prior to the exchange and March 31 of the Use Year for the timeshare week being converted.

The StarOptions to StarPoints conversion is not available to vacationers who own SVO timeshare purchased as by-owner resales. Nonetheless, your SVO ownership can be used for timeshare exchange in most timeshare exchange companies.

For Starwood timeshare resale purchasers, in addition to saving a bundle on your vacation ownership by purchasing a discounted by-owner timeshare, you can still rack up rewards for travel that includes Starwood accommodations by signing up for the free Starwood Preferred Guest program.