Starwood Preferred Guest, the loyalty programme of Le Meridien, Aloft, Four Points, Westin, The Luxury Collection, W, Sheraton, St Regis and Element hotels, has announced its forthcoming member promotion for the first months of 2013.

Entitled ‘SPG Power Up’, members will earn 2,000 bonus Starpoints® for every four eligible nights stayed (up to 8,000 bonus Starpoints and 16 nights). An additional 10,000 bonus Starpoints will be awarded when 20 eligible nights have been consumed.

Registration will open in early January to register, and eligible stays at any of the hotels and resorts in the SPG programme from January 15 through April 15, 2013 will qualify.

To set a reminder to register, members can text “PWRUP” to 447950080934 in the U.K. to opt in. Opted-in members will receive three text messages from Starwood for the campaign. One message will be sent after opting in, asking you to respond with keyword “YES” to verify that you would like to receive the reminder text. Once you do so, you will also get a text confirming that you have been opted in. Then, when the promotion is live, you will get the reminder text with registration information. Message and data rates will apply.

For more details, full terms and conditions and to register once the promotion is live, visit spg.com.

Starwood Preferred Guest, the loyalty programme for Aloft, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, Sheraton, St Regis, Westin and W Hotels, is offering its members the opportunity to purchase additional Starpoints at a 20% discount until 14th December 2012.

Members may purchase Starpoints for themselves or others, as long as their accounts are at least 60 days old, and SPG say that purchases will credit to member accounts within 24 hours.

Although purchasing points instead of paying for a hotel stay rarely achieves a cost saving, points purchase to top-up an account can make economic sense. SPG also allows the conversion of Starpoints to airline programmes, offering an additional 5,000 Starpoint bonus for every 20,000 transferred out.

This transfer opportunity, especially with the current and ongoing bonuses, offers a means of buying more airline miles per annum than the airlines themselves may allow within their own scheme, and/or a means of acquiring airline miles more cheaply than from the airlines. Note however that there may be a short delay in transferred Starpoints subsequently appearing in an airline account.

As a worked example, most members of the British Airways Executive Club may purchase a maximum of 24,000 Avios each calendar year. That’s 4,000 more Avios than are needed for a return Club World upgrade from Premium Economy on a roundtrip from the UK to the East Coast USA. Buying them from BA currently costs £399.

Buying 20,000 Starpoints by 14th December will cost $560; which currently converts to c£360 when paid for by credit card. Convert the Starpoints to Avios, and members will receive 25,000 Avios, for 10% less than 24,000 would have cost from BA, and effectively lifting the annual purchase limit to 49,000 Avios; or almost enough for two East Coast USA Club World upgrades.

To buy Starpoints, visit SPG.com.

Members of the Starwood Preferred Guest programme can register to receive a rebate of between 30% and 50% when they use their Starpoints for award stays at 21 selected resorts in North America this season.

The loyalty programme for guests of Le Meridien, aloft, Four Points, Westin, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Sheraton, St Regis and element properties has launched the promotion for award stays taken between 21st October and 20th December 2012.

Members must register prior to their stay and by no later than 30th November, and stays already booked but consumed after registration will qualify.

The participating Starwood hotels are:

50% rebate:
• The St. Regis Aspen Resort, Colorado, USA
• The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico, USA
• The St. Regis Bal Harbor Resort, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
• The St. Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, California, USA
• The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
• W South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
• The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Florida, USA

40% rebate:
• W Retreat & Spa — Vieques, Puerto Rico, USA
• The Westin Trillium House, Blue Mountain, Ontario, Canada
• The Westin St. John Resort & Villas, Virgin Islands, USA
• The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa, Rancho Mirage, California, USA
• The Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa, Cayman Islands
• The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba
• Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort & Casino, Bahamas

30% rebate:
• Sheraton Steamboat Resort, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA
• Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, Chandler, Arizona, USA
• The St. Regis Deer Valley, Park City, Utah, USA
• The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
• The Westin La Cantera Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, Texas, USA
• The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa, Georgia, USA
• The Westin Whistler Resort & Spa, British Columbia, Canada

For full Ts&Cs and to register for the promotion, click here.