From Four Points to 20,000 Starwood Points (Plus a FREE Hotel Stay!)

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Keith:   This is not your average story about complaining to get free hotel points.  Although I have quite a few of those! 😉

Last weekend, I was in Nashville for a friend’s bachelor party.  I arrived the night before the rest of the group got to town.  So I decided to book a cheap stay at an airport hotel.

After a few flight delays, I arrived in Nashville at 3:00 am.  I took a ~5 minute taxi ride to the Four Points by Sheraton Nashville Airport.  This is where the story gets good.  At check-in, I learned the hotel was oversold and my room had been given away.

From Four Points To 20000 Starwood Points Plus A FREE Hotel Stay
Who Knew a Four Points Airport Hotel Could Be In Such High Demand?

Most folks would understandably be upset in this situation.  But I knew this was an opportunity to walk away with a free hotel night and much more!

Starwood Elite Status

I’m a loyal Starwood guest with Platinum elite status.  I’ve worked hard to earn this perk by mostly booking Starwood branded hotels whenever my wife and I travel.

It’s nice to enjoy room upgrades and earn extra bonus points when we’re on vacation.  But there’s a benefit of Platinum status I would never have thought could come in handy:

Guaranteed room availability when your room is booked by 3:00 pm, 72+ hours prior to arrival.

Well, apparently this perk does not work as advertised.

A Free Night & 20,000 Starwood Points!

Here’s what I got for the inconvenience:

Yes, 20,000 Starwood points!  That’s enough to get me a free round-trip flight to Hawaii.  Or a free night at highly-rated hotels like The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale.

From Four Points To 20000 Starwood Points Plus A FREE Hotel Stay
This Is the Most Valuable Amount of Compensation I’ve Ever Received for a Travel Mishap

I’m planning to save these points until the Marriott and Starwood loyalty programs merge in August.  And I am super optimistic I’ll be able to get at least $750+ worth of free travel with these points.

Bottom Line

The main takeaway from my story is: do not settle.  I think many folks would take the free night at a nearby hotel and then curse Starwood for giving their room away.

I was grateful for the free hotel room.  But a quick walk over to the hotel the following day for a conversation with the manager got me 20,000 free Starwood points!

Does anyone else have an oversold hotel experience?  I’d love to hear how you handled it in the comments below!

Million Mile Secrets features a team of points and miles experts who have traveled to over 80 countries and have used 60+ credit cards responsibly to accumulate loyalty points and travel the world on the cheap! The Million Mile Secrets team has been featured on The Points Guy, TIME, Yahoo Finance and many other leading points & miles media outlets.

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