Frequently Asked Questions: Starwood Preferred Guest

Starwood Preferred Guest is the award-winning hotel program that offers extraordinary experiences, rewards and recognition wherever you travel. Members have access to exclusive benefits and flexible reward options for magnificent vacation getaways. All of this comes with the added benefit of no blackout dates on Free Night Awards. So, if we have a standard room on the night of your choice, it’s yours.

Members also experience rich rewards throughout seven distinguished hotel brands including Sheraton® Hotels & Resorts, Four Points® by Sheraton®, W Hotels®, The Luxury Collection®, Le Méridien®, Westin Hotels & Resorts®, and St. Regis® Hotels & Resorts – more than 960 participating hotels and resorts worldwide!

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Our competitors black out certain hotels and resorts during peak travel times throughout the year, making it impossible to use reward points to book a room. As a Starwood Preferred Guest member, you’ll never encounter a blackout date for Free Night Awards. Unlike our competitors, we don’t limit the number of rooms available for redemption. So, if we have a standard room available, and you have the Starpoints – it's yours.

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At over 960 of Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ participating hotels that encompass seven brands, including Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Le Méridien, Westin Hotels & Resorts, and St. Regis Hotels & Resorts. You now have over 960 hotels and resorts in more than 95 countries to earn and redeem Starpoints.

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Membership is free.

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Becoming a Gold Preferred Guest member requires 10 eligible stays or 25 eligible room nights in a calendar year. Members at this level receive all the benefits of a Preferred Guest® member plus more Starpoints (three for every eligible U.S. dollar spent), automatic room upgrades, little extras like 4 p.m. late checkout, and more! See complete details.

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Becoming a Platinum Preferred Guest member requires 25 eligible stays or 50 eligible room nights in a calendar
year. Not only do Platinum Preferred Guest members receive all the benefits of a Gold Preferred Guest member,
they can also take advantage of additional privileges such as automatic upgrades to our best available guest room –
including standard suites – at time of check-in for the entire stay and complimentary access to the hotel gym. At Le
Méridien, Westin and Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, members can also take advantage of complimentary access to the Executive and Club Level floors.

Additionally, our signature Platinum Concierge^SM provides members with access to an extraordinary range of services with one simple phone call. Members can make reservations, secure upgrades and redeem awards, book opera tickets or even find a babysitter with this exclusive service. See complete details.

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Starwood Preferred Guest will send you a membership card after you’ve had your first stay at a Starwood hotel or resort. You may expect your card to arrive approximately four to six weeks after your first stay.

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You can Replace Your Member Card quickly and easily on SPG.com. Simply follow the instructions and print out a temporary card which you can use until your new card arrives by mail.

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You can register for online account access at anytime. Registering a Username and Password is quick and easy.

Once you’ve completed the simple process of creating your Web site username and password you’ll have online access to manage your account information, view your account balance and much more.

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Preferred Guest members earn two Starpoints and Gold and Platinum Preferred members earn a 50% Starpoints
bonus to equal three Starpoints for every eligible dollar spent at participating Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Four Points
by Sheraton, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Le Méridien, Westin Hotels & Resorts, and St. Regis Hotels &
Resorts.

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Members can earn Starpoints for up to three rooms per stay when 1) each room is paid for by the member and all
charges are settled at check-out; and 2) one room is occupied by the member. Please note that members will only
get one credit toward elite status, not all three rooms will count.

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You can earn Starpoints for food and beverage charges of US$10 or more in participating Starwood restaurants, even when you’re not a registered guest, when you present your membership card.

You can also earn Starpoints for goods and services with our partners: Avis, SIXT rent a car, Hartmann, or TD
AMERITRADE.

Transferring points from an American Express® Membership Rewards® or Diners Club Rewards account is another great option for supplementing your account with additional Starpoints.

Using the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express (U.S. residents) or the Starwood
Preferred Guest® MasterCard® (Canadian residents) is one of the fastest, easiest ways to earn Starpoints.

Additionally, you can now buy Starpoints! Add them to your account, give them as a gift or use them as employee or
customer incentives.

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Starwood Preferred Guest Members can earn miles with their frequent flyer program by visiting spg.com/moremiles
or by calling 888-627-7143 (in the U.S. and Canada) or 353-21-4539579 (International toll line) and enrolling in the
Airline Direct Deposit Program. After switching from points to miles, you will automatically earn miles during your
stay at the same rate you would have earned Starpoints.

When Starpoints are transferred to a frequent flyer account, both accounts must be in the same name otherwise the
airline will reject the transfer. This is for the member’s protection so that no unauthorized transfers may occur. Once
Starpoints transfer to an airline, they may not be returned to the Starwood Preferred Guest account.

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You can redeem your Starpoints in a number of ways including: Free Night Awards, Cash & Points, Fifth Night Free,
Room Upgrades, 50% off Regular Rack Rate or Nights & Flights. Remember, the Starwood Preferred Guest
program is the only program without blackout dates on Free Night Awards – if we have a standard room available,
you have a room!

Additionally, your Starpoints can be redeemed for Instant Awards^SM – in-hotel indulgences that vary by hotel and can include anything from an elephant ride in Thailand to a Westin Heavenly massage in Maui and more!

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Absolutely. Through our network of partners, you have the opportunity to use your Starpoints for air travel, ground
transportation, and gift certificates from some of your favorite retailers – from iTunes to Starbucks to Amazon.com.
You can even donate your Starpoints to charity.

You can also use your Starpoints to bid on money-can’t-buy experiences and events with our member exclusive
online auction site, spgmoments.com.

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Keeping track of your Starpoints is easy. You can sign in to your account on SPG.com or indicate in your
preferences that you’d like to sign up for eStatements to get updated account information delivered right to your
inbox.

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We allow Starwood Preferred Guest participating properties up to seven days from your date of departure to credit
your Starwood Preferred Guest account with eligible charges. If your stay hasn’t appeared in your account after that time, please submit your stay details using our missing stay form for us to follow up on your behalf.

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You may Report a Missing Stay online, contact our Customer Contact Center or send us an inquiry via e-mail.

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We allow Members to obtain credit for stays up to 30 days prior to enrollment. To credit your account for a stay, we
ask that you send a copy of your hotel bill or credit card statement. Please ensure your date of arrival, length of stay
and membership number is included in this information and fax to: 519-633-8557.

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Eligible room rates (see ineligible charges for further details) food & beverage charges, laundry & dry cleaning,
telephone & in-room faxes, in-room movies & in-room video games.

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Ineligible charges include, but are not limited to: taxes, service charges, gratuities, parking, recreational charges
(includes charges related to golf, spa, watersport rentals, etc.) and any part of any stay prior to June 1, 2008 that is in excess of 30 consecutive or any part of any stay after June 1, 2008 that is in excess of 90 nights. In addition, certain types of room rates are not eligible for Starpoints credit. These include groups or conventions settled through a Master Bill, airline crew room charges, tours or pre-packaged deals through travel agents, wholesale rates, and rates from third-party bookings such as, but not limited to, priceline.com, expedia.com, etc.

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A "stay" is defined as one or more consecutive nights at a participating property paying an eligible rate. A "room
night" is defined as one night at any participating property paying an eligible rate.

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