‘Pay Your Birth Year’ – an attractive Starwood promo for our older readers

A couple of years ago I was over in Canada, chaperoning my Mum to a family wedding.  The event was at the, frankly underwhelming, Westin in Edmonton (picture below), part of Starwood Preferred Guest.

I had been playing around with different deals for this hotel for a while, because we needed five nights between the two of us.  I finally found the best option – Pay Your Birth Year – which is a little-known Starwood promotion which pays dividends for older guests.

‘Pay Your Birth Year’ is a Starwood promotion which only runs in the USA, Caribbean and Canada.  You will find rates for participating Sheraton, Le Meridien, St Regis, Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Aloft etc properties.

The home page for the deal is here.

This is how it works:

You pay the standard Best Flexible Rate for your first night – which means you are overpaying compared to booking a prepaid rate

You pay your birth year for the second night (C$70 for me, C$43 for my Mum)

Some hotels let you add a third night at the same rate – the Westin Edmonton is one of these.  This means that Mum got two nights for C$43 each.

Some luxury hotel add C$100 to the 2nd and 3rd nights, which would mean Mum paying C$143 and not C$43.  This is not the case in Edmonton.

If you want to stay longer than 3 nights, you CANNOT back-to-back this offer.  You would need to check out for a night and move back in the next day.

By booking this rate, I undercut the group rate negotiated for the wedding for my own room.  My Mum substantially undercut the group rate by getting her second and third nights for just C$43.

This is one of those little known deals which is worth adding to your inventory of tricks.  Even an 18 year old staying a hotel which charges the $100 supplement would only pay $197 for the 2nd and 3rd nights, which is a good deal in cities such as New York.

The rate is only available via this link.  It does not come up on a standard Starwood search.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)