SPG Platinum Challenge Is Online & Why You Shouldn’t Do It

One of the easiest top tier statuses left to get is SPG Platinum. The SPG Platinum Challenge had been available before (Gold as well) but now you can see the SPG Platinum Challenge online. But, should you do it?

Quick answer – if you normally do a lot of single night stays, the SPG Platinum challenge is not the best option. It is better to go for SPG Platinum the regular way. If you stay for several nights per stay, the SPG Platinum challenge is the way to go

SPG Platinum Challenge Is Online

SPG Platinum status can be a very valuable tool for your hotel stays. Not only does it give you top-tier status at SPG, it also translates to Marriott Platinum status which requires a lot more in the way of nights to qualify! That makes SPG Platinum an even better deal – and definitely something you should consider before the SPG program is completely folded into the Marriott program.

Link: SPG Platinum Challenge (and Gold also)

Here are the details regarding the SPG Platinum Challenge, which mostly apply for Gold as well.

• Registration: Between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017 (by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time)
  • Must be a SPG Gold member to register for Platinum
• Offer: Members must register by December 31, 2017, and choose a consecutive three-month (3-month) earning period (the “Challenge Period”) from the options provided at time of registration.
  • Platinum Status Challenge participants must complete 18 Eligible Paid Nights during the challenge
  • Gold Status Challenge participants must have nine (9) Eligible Paid Nights within their Challenge Period.
  • SPG Award Nights do not count as Eligible Paid Nights for the purpose of the Status Challenge.
  • Only eligible paid nights consumed within the selected Status Challenge period will count towards the Status Challenge.
• Earning: The Elite Status Challenge entitles members to one full year of elite status, from one renewal period to the next. If you are upgraded now, you will retain status for the remainder of the year, all of 2018, up until February 28th, 2019.
• More details here

Should You Do the SPG Platinum Challenge?

The SPG Gold Challenge

First of all, the reason I am pretty much ignoring the SPG Gold Challenge is because you can easily get SPG Gold status by simply having the American Express Platinum card – as a primary cardholder or an authorized user. If you wanted to get this card but do not want to pay the fee ($550), you could apply for this version of the American Express Platinum card. Also, it does seem that many people are able to retain the SPG Gold status long after letting the Platinum card go…

So, to the SPG Platinum Challenge! Yes, if you have a lot of nights to hit in a 3 month period, the challenge is the way to go. But there are some things you should consider before you sign up for the SPG Platinum Challenge.

SPG Platinum The Regular Way – Stays

Ok, if you are a “stays” person like me, earning SPG Platinum via the regular way is actually not that difficult to do. It only requires 25 stays – in a calendar year. That means you would need (if you were doing stays over nights) only 7 additional stays over the SPG Platinum challenge and you would have the rest of the calendar year to get that done. Of course, if you are staying someplace for work or vacation and it is a 7 night stay, you would be better off with the SPG Platinum Challenge.

Amex Card Credits

If you have the SPG Amex cards, they each give you another 2 stays/5 nights credit also! That means that, if you have both the personal and business cards, you will have 4 stays taken off the 25 bringing you down to a difference of 3 stays (if doing stays versus nights) from the SPG Platinum challenge!

Award Nights Count!

The award chart for free nights

Yes, if you are earning SPG Platinum the regular way, all cash and point stays and full award stays actually count for elite status earning as well! That means you could get to SPG Platinum without even spending any money if you had enough points! But, the SPG Platinum challenge requires paid nights only so no using points to get there.

3 Nights with 1 Night

Now, this does work for the regular earning way but apparently there are conflicting reports from reps as to whether it works for the SPG Platinum challenge. How this works is that you can book 3 rooms at the same property on the same night and get elite credit for all 3! So, if you were at a cheap property, you could book 3 rooms for the night, under your account, and receive credit for 3 stays!

This does work for earning status the regular way but I have heard from some that reps say it does not work with the challenge. If you have heard from a rep that it does work for the challenge, let us know in the comments!

Takeaway

The SPG Platinum challenge is a very generous way to get top-tier status with a reduced number of nights and then have that status for all of this year and next year! If you have multiple night stays coming up, that would be the best way to go (providing you already have SPG Gold – if not, get the Amex Platinum card first).

But, if you want to know whether you should do it the regular way or the challenge, hopefully this post showed you the reasons you may want to just attack it the old-fashioned way.