My current stay strategy has me earning 7500 Starwood points per week. That is enough for 1 night in a Cat 3 hotel or a few nights in the lower category hotels.

Maximize Your The Promotion

The recent Starwood Get Closer to Paradise promotion awards members 1000 points based on “stays”. A “stay” is defined as a check-in and a check-out regardless at how many nights but consecutive nights at the same hotel don’t count as separate stays if you check-in/out. So the trick is to make your trips a collection of 1 night “stays”.

My total earnings for the week (assuming 4 nights in a hotel) are around 7500. Here is the breakout.

Sun Night = 1000 Get Closer to Paradise Promo, 500 Platinum Amenity, 370 Spend Points
Mon Night = 1000 Get Closer to Paradise Promo, 500 Platinum Amenity, 370 Spend Points
Tue Night = 1000 Get Closer to Paradise Promo, 500 Platinum Amenity, 370 Spend Points
Wed Night = 1000 Get Closer to Paradise Promo, 500 Platinum Amenity, 370 Spend Points
Total earnings = 7480 points per week

Bottom Line

Always read the T&C’s of the promotion. This strategy may not fit everyone’s preferences, I admit checking out is not the funnest process. But with the little extra effort you can really increase the pace at which you earn points and get you closer to that next award.