Starwood throws its spring hotel promotion into the ring …. IHG is still not panicking
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The hotel promotion to beat for Spring 2016, unless you were unlucky with your targetted offer, is IHG’s second version of ‘Accelerate’.
Most Head for Points readers will be moving a few nights over to InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza etc to take advantage. Full details of IHG’s Accelerate offer can be found here.
On Saturday I covered the Hilton offer for the Spring – Double Your HHonors. You will earn double points or double airline miles. Not hugely exciting although, of course, you should sign up (details in this article) if you are likely to have any Hilton Group stays before the end of April.
Starwood (Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, aloft, W etc) has now released its own Spring promotion. Full details and registration are here.
It is even weaker than the Hilton offer in many ways ….
It is called ‘Take Two’ and runs from 11th January to 30th April. The Hilton and IHG promos run from 1st January so you should ignore SPG for that ten day window.
It is a simple one:
You will double Starpoints on all stays of two nights or more (all SPG hotels globally are participating)
plus
You will earn an extra 250 points per night for stays in ‘major destinations’ (the list of participating hotels is here)
I tend to value an SPG point at 1.5p so you are looking at an extra £3.75 of value per night if your hotel is on the ‘participating’ list for the extra bonus. This is all you can expect for a one night stay. The offers would combine for longer stays which, when taken together, makes the promotion look better.
You can register via this page. It makes sense to register now, just in case. Starwood closes registration on 10th April but the promotion does not end until 30th April – it would be a shame to forget to register and then find yourself in an SPG property in the last three weeks of the offer.
All in all, it doesn’t get close to the value you can get from IHG’s Accelerate if you have an achievable target. It is probably good enough to stop you defecting from Starwood to Hilton if those are your only options, however, and that is probably what matters to the SPG team.
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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (September 2025)
There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
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SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 120,000 Marriott Bonvoy points! The spend target is changed to £10,000 within SIX months of approval. T&C apply. Click here to apply.
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