whode

Was it calendar year 2006 (well, actually Oct1-Dec31, 2006) or does it only start in 2007. I've seen both mentioned here.

Also, I saw another thread on FlyerTalk that says that the Gold upgrade isn't mentioned as a benefit with the Business SPG Amex Card. Is that correct?

thor17

Look at the last sentence of the terms and conditions I posted.

Starwood Lurker

Thank you for explaining what I meant, but did not say very well.

My apologies for any confusion, but my opinion is really not what matters. What AMEX does is what really counts.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Starwood Lurker

No, it applies to either product. However, the $30K spend has to all be done on at least one product. You can't spend $15k on one and $15K on another to get the Gold upgrade.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

wintermom

Thanks for clarifing, thats good news!

schriste

FWIW - you can get gold status at Hilton using the Hilton Amex for $20,000 annual spend. In my experience Gold at Hilton has more value than Gold at SPG... of course YMMV.

pinniped

I will definitely keep them both. Thanks to the timing and the fact that HH status resets a bit later in the year than most other statuses, I should be able to use the HH Amex as my primary card from January-April in even-numbered years and maintain HH Gold indefinitely.

I agree that HH Gold > SPG Gold, but it can't hurt to keep both of 'em active.

f9999

I'm over 30k for the year but not by too much as I switched to the AMEX mid-year from Citi. I called SPG when I read about this here just to clarify the terms and see when it would happen, as I expected my next statement to put me over the edge and I have some SPG stays coming up fast. The guy on the phone said oh, I'll just go ahead and bump you up to gold right now and it was done in 30 seconds. I'm pretty sure he didn't look at my spending even, though perhaps the most recent 6k or so for the previous month's postings was right in front of him. Either way it took me a second -- try calling (assuming you do qualify) and just say it should have posted and I have a stay soon. Might have the same response I did.

thor17

I called SPG after reading your post and they upped me to Gold after spending a minute or two to do the calculations. Thanks for the tip! I thought I was going to have to wait until March 2007.

theadocj

Hi William,
I emailed Amex since I thought I was over the 30k, and they responded that yes I was over that point in September. I was never upgraded to Gold though (evidenced by the website and no new card). More troubling, I have not been earning the bonus gold points for everything I have spent since September. Isn't the upgrade supposed to be automatic? He told me to email *wood to have it done. This isn't fair if I miss out on the points because no one told me I had to take the action. Do you have any advice?
Thanks!

Starwood Lurker

Yes, I have some advice...you might want to send me your SPG account number. I'm not going to be able to address most of this until I have it; however, 1) AMEX is responsible for telling us when this event occurs; 2) the terms say that the status comes in the following quarter after you earn it; and 3) it is automatic as far as I know under the terms mentioned above, so it may merely be a timing issue.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

MileKing

It appears to be an on-going problem. Not sure if the issue is with SPG or AMEX, but I also passed $30K spend in September. It was noted on my AMEX statement at that time that I qualified for Gold. As of today, my account still reflects no status. William, I'll send you my account number if it will help. Thanks!

Starwood Lurker

No worries. I'm making some inquiries and every documentable example is helpful. Once I know something more, I'll get back to you.

Still thinking this is a timing issue, though I could be wrong.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Hoc

Well, darn. I just started using my SPG Amex seriously in about November, so my total spend through Dec. 31 amounts only to about $27k, while my spend through the Jan 10, 2008 billing date will top $30k. I guess that means that I'll just have to wait until about March or April of this year to get gold status.

The interesting thing is that Starwood Lurker and the website both state very clearly that the spend must be done during a calendar year, but in these days of rolling qualification (such as with the Hilton Program), what used to be unambiguous could become confusing. For example, arguably, a Feb.-Feb. year is now one calendar year, because it is a year, measured by the calendar.

But I think from the discussion above that "calendar year" here means Jan. 1-Dec. 31.

hhoope01

So what does this really mean in terms of timing? I reached $30K spending this past December and haven't yet been upgraded. So does it mean that I won't be upgraded until the end of the 1st qtr of 2008 (i.e. March 31st), sometime after March 31st or will it be some random date within the 1st qtr?