Update: Today is the last day to lock in lower award rates at hotels that are going up in category. Category changes take affect at midnight tonight 03/10 local hotel time.
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Every year, Starwood Hotels reshuffles their hotel award category list. This year a bit over 22% of hotels are changing category. 130 hotels (10.5%) are moving up in category which means it will cost you more points for an award redemption, and 138 hotels (11.8%) are moving down in category which means fewer points for an award redemption
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Starwood hotel brands include: Aloft, Element, Four Points by Sheraton, Le Meridien, Sheraton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin Hotels and W hotels.
The new award chart goes into affect march 10th, so if you book a hotel that’s moving up in category before then, you will lock in the lower rate an it’ll cost you less points. Most hotel award bookings can be canceled with no penalty until a short amount of time before the booked stay, just be sure to read the fine print for the particular hotel to make sure of their cancellation policy.
Note that is a preliminary list of category changes, there may be still be adjustments with other hotels being added to the new 2015 category list.
— Remember you can quickly earn Starwood points through the sign-up bonuses on on both the Starwood American Express card and the Starwood American Express Business credit card. All credit card offers can be viewed via the links in the credit cards tab. After clicking on the link to your category of credit cards, just scroll through the pages to find the offer you are looking for.
Starwood’s (SPG) Current Award Chart:
Category 1 = 2,000 points (weekend) or 3,000 points (weekday)
Category 1 with Cash & Points = 1,500 points + $30
Category 2 = 3,000 points (weekend) or 4,000 points (weekday)
Category 2 with Cash & Points = 2,000 points + $35
Category 3 = 7,000 points
Category 3 with Cash & Points = 3,500 points + $55
Category 4 = 10,000 points
Category 4 with Cash & Points = 5,000 points + $75
Category 5 = 12,000 points (Low Season) or 16,000 points (High Season)
Category 5 with Cash & Points = 6,000 points + $110
Category 6 = 20,000 points (Low Season) or 25,000 points (High Season)
Category 6 with Cash & Points = 10,000 points + $180
Category 7 = 30,000 points (Low Season) or 35,000 points (High Season)
Category 7 with Cash & Points = 15,000 points + $275
Sample Hotels going down in category:
- W Paris – Opéra – From Category 7-6
- St. Regis Rome – From Category 7-6
- Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas, Colorado – From Category 7-6
- The Westin Riverfront, Beaver Creek Mountain, Colorado – From Category 6-5
- Sheraton Zurich Neues Schloss Hotel, Switzerland – From Category 6-5
- Hotel Excelsior, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Naples, Italy – From Category 5-4
- Sheraton Mountain Vista Villas, Avon / Vail Valley – From Category 5-4
- The Westin Grand Frankfurt – From Category 5-4
- Le Méridien Vienna, Austria – From Category 5-4
- Le Westin Montreal – From Category 5-4
- Le Méridien Budapest – From Category 4-3
- The Westin Los Angeles Airport – From Category 4-3
- Sheraton Mahwah Hotel – From Category 4-3
- Sheraton Prague Charles Square Hotel – From Category 4-3
- The Westin Baltimore Washington Airport – BWI – From Category 4-3
- The Westin Warsaw – From Category 3-2
- Sheraton Rome – From Category 3-2
- Sheraton London Heathrow Hotel – From Category 3-2
- Four Points by Sheraton Montevideo, Uruguay – From Category 3-2
- Aloft Montreal Airport – From Category 3-2
- Sheraton Munich Airport Hotel – From Category 3-2
- Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, London, England – From Category 3-2
- Aloft BWI Baltimore Washington International Airport – From Category 3-2
- Four Points by Sheraton Detroit Airport – From Category 2-1
Sample hotels moving up in category:
- Le Parker Méridien Palm Springs – From Category 5-6
- The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Boston – From Category 5-6
- W Boston – From Category 5-6
- The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale – From Category 5-6
- Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel, Weehawken, NJ – From Category 4-5
- The Westin Governor Morris, Morristow, NJ – From Category 4-5
- The Westin Washington National Harbor – From Category 4-5
- The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort, Cancun Mexico – From Category 4-5
- Sheraton Seattle Hotel – From Category 4-5
- Aloft Denver Downtown – From Category 3-4
- Aloft Orlando Downtown – From Category 3-4
- The Tremont Chicago Hotel at Magnificent Mile – From Category 3-4
- Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel – From Category 3-4
- Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel – From Category 3-4
- The Westin Cleveland Downtown – From Category 3-4
- The Westin O’Hare – From Category 3-4
- Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel – From Category 3-4
- Sheraton Burlington Hotel & Conference Cente, Vermont – From Category 3-4
- Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia City Center – From Category 3-4
- Aloft Arundel Mill, Maryland – From Category 2-3
- Four Points by Sheraton San Diego – From Category 2-3
- Sheraton Jacksonville Hotel – From Category 2-3