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And the Winner of the 100,000 Starpoints Is…

by on August 21, 2011 · 19 comments

in General TPG Business, Starwood

With 21% of the vote, Travelhackerr - congratulations! 1,138 votes were cast in total over the 24 hours, with the breakdown being:

  • Travelhackerr’s Plan to Propose and then Honeymoon (21%, 242 Votes)
  • David Hagins Family Trip to Aruba (17%, 199 Votes)
  • Cory’s Family Beach and Snow Trips (16%, 184 Votes)
  • KirstenE’s Family Trip to Hawaii (15%, 168 Votes)
  • SajerGuy’s Golf Trip to Macau (9%, 108 Votes)
  • TriciaC’s Return to Japan (9%, 103 Votes)
  • Mitch’s Analytical Trip to India (5%, 53 Votes)
  • Heather’s Tour de Points (3%, 34 Votes)
  • Joey’s Trip to Paris (2%, 25 Votes)
  • Coldlimit’s Foodie Tour of Asia (3%, 22 Votes)

Hopefully you will write a guest blog post about your experience, especially with the proposal! Best of luck to you and I hope you get the answer you want.

As for everyone else, I was so impressed with your entries, I don’t want you walking away empty-handed. As I mentioned when I first posted this promotion, American Express is giving me 100,000 Starpoints to run this promotion. While I cannot split up that prize and give you all the points (like I originally wanted to), I am going to give runners-up 2-10 each a $100 American Express Gift cards and I’ll be donating $250 to the Red Cross (since that seemed to be a very popular charity choice in the entries).

TPG Membership Liaison Danielle will be in touch shortly to get your information. I really appreciate everyone playing along and I hope you all learned a thing or two about using SPG points and why the 30,000 point sign-up bonus is a really good deal. Update: 30k bonus expired 8/22/11

Now, how am I going to use the 100,000 Starpoints? It’s actually pretty simple.

I’ve never been to Hawaii (shocker, I know) nor have I stayed at a St. Regis. I’d plan an 8 day rest and relaxation trip as follows:

I’d redeem 80,000 of the points to spend 5 nights at the The St. Regis Princeville Resort on Kauai and then spend the other 20,000 on Cash + Points stays on the other islands. In typical TPG planning, I’ll reach out to my immensely resourceful readers to craft the overall trip, but I was thinking The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas for 2 nights on Maui at 8,000 points + $150 a night and then a final night on Honoluluat the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa, Waikiki Beach for 4,800 points and $90. I realize that brings me to 100,800 points, but just as easily as I make the rules, I’m allowed to break them :-)

TPG needs some R&R

I have trips to Peru and Puerto Rico to plan first, but expect expect a full TPG Does Hawaii series in the future!

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

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  • http://infamousdx.com infamousdx

    Congrats to Travelhacker! I hope he writes a guest post on the whole experience.

    And I’m glad to hear you picked Hawaii. The fiancee and I are staying at the St. Regis Princeville for 4 nights after we get married on Oahu. Following Kauai, we’ll be going to Maui to stay at the Four Seaons Wailea. Can’t wait for your Hawaii series of posts!

  • TravelHackerr

    Thank you to all my voters!
    Thank you to ThePointsGuy – it was an exciting contest.

    Well, it’s really amazing that I won. I never expected it, but it’s really nice. Thank you again.

    I’ll write a guest post on the whole experience, but it will take some time. My girlfriend and I are planing our next vacation in summer next year. And of course, it’s not just a question, it needs to be well prepared. ;)

    But you will hear from me!

    Thank you
    TravelHackerr

  • James

    TPG darling, you *must* go to the Big Island (please read that in a posh British accent, though I am from New York). http://www.sheratonkeauhou.com/

  • Anonymous

    I’m open to any and all suggestions! They all look so nice.. maybe I’ll just fly directly to KOA and avoid HNL.. hmm

  • C0ldlimit

    Congrats to TravelHackerr! Thank you TPG for a fun contest and your generosity. My co-workers tells “Kauai Revealed” by Wizard Publications is the best guide book out there. In the guidebook the author raves about the Grand Hyatt Kauai, so it might be worth a look!

  • Heather ✈

    Thanks for the opportunity to be in the Top 10 contest! It was fun, and thank you very much for the $100 AMEX gift card!!

    We are also going to Hawaii (of course with the assistance and knowledge of TPG) and we’ll be staying on the Big Island. I’m most interested in seeing: the green sand, volcanoes, and taking a cruise and snorkeling in cool places. Here’s the link to the cruise site in case you’re interested: http://www.fair-wind.com/ (We actually are doing 2 different cruises: one on the Fair Wind II and the other on the Hula Kai.) We’ll be there 9 nights, so of course some of the time we’ll be snorkeling in the Hilton lagoon… enjoying the paradise!

    Thanks again for all you do on this site!

    Heather
    “Tour de Points”

  • James

    Plus quite apart from the magicalness (magicality?) of the Big Island, KOA is one of the coolest airports you’ll ever go to. All outside with no jetbridges or busses–walk straight from the little huts to your plane. Any aviation nut should go:
    http://www.tinyurl.com/KOArulez
    http://tinyurl.com/KOArulez2

  • TriciaC

    Congrats to TravelHackerr! I am happy with the 100 gift card, thanks so much!

  • Shannon

    The Moana Surfrider is a fabulous hotel. Right up the road, though, the Royal Hawaiian is a Honolulu landmark … I don’t know what kind of C+P they offer, but you should at least check it out: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=376

  • http://twitter.com/trentswanson Trent Swanson

    Big Island over Oahu. A no brainer. Be sure to hike the Volcanoes National Park and look for lava flows. On a clear day you can see Maui’s Haleakalah from Maunakea. Also, nice beaches on Kona

  • Jeff

    Congrats to Travelhacker!!! Now that you already won I can advise you not to use precious SPG points in LV where you can get such amazingly cheap deals on some of the worlds top hotels!!!!! Use it for a few more nights in Hawai!!!

  • Sam

    TPG – Great choice, Kauai is a great spot! Be sure to do a Napali Coast sea excursion as well as a helicoptor tour as most of Kauai is not accessible otherwise. The property itself is great, we spent the better part of the day. Be sure to spend an evening at Hanalei beach park watching the sunset. Locals/surfers clear out at dusk quickly (sharks?) but it is sure picturesque. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, Sheraton, and a condo on the south side on Poipu. Personally, the north side is great for honeymooners but there is a lot more stuff to do on the south side.

    Also – do not leave without trying a PUKA DOG!

  • http://infamousdx.com infamousdx

    I think eventually you should find your way to Oahu for at least a few days but it’s so touristy nowadays that Waikiki feels as busy as Times Square sometimes.

    Having visited Oahu plenty of times (family), I would definitely put all 3 other islands ahead of it if I had to choose – Big Island, Kauai, and Maui.

  • Anonymous

    I’m looking forward to seeing how many destinations/islands you can get out of one award ticket and how many island hoppers you have to purchase and/or use miles for separately. Flying into/out of Oahu or Maui from continental US gives you the most options. The Sheraton Maui, Royal Hawaiian, and Princeville Ocean Resort Villas are my preferences but you can’t go wrong with Starwood properties you have pegged.

  • Apurva

    I clicked on the link to apply for the AMEX, it says only 10000 starting SPG points, not 30000 as stated by your post… did I miss the date?

  • Kim

    Make sure you get a reservation to eat dinner at sunset at the Beachhouse Restaurant!

  • Bear

    Manta ray night dive/snorkel in Kona on the Big Island is a must and the Four Seasons Hualalai is spectacular.

  • Bear

    Boat tour of the Na Pali coast on Kauai from the north shore where the St Regis is located is a great day trip and a helicopter tour of the island is a great way to see the whole island in 90 minutes – try for the doors-off ride on Jack Harter.

  • Phil

    Wow, no love for Mother Teresa’s peeps, someone is going to hell