Thanks to Steve Hui at iFLYflat, yesterday I received a heads up that the Starwood Moments program opened up some auctions and packages for VIP Formula 1 experiences at the Grand Prix in Melbourne in a few weeks.
The packages are for 2 people, and comprise of a mixture of VIP hospitality packages, a cocktail reception with Lewis Hamilton at the soon to open Sheraton Melbourne, and some with a meet & greet with Lewis too. They also include race or qualifying tickets, transfers from Melbourne to the circuit, lunch, and in some cases, more VIP hospitality at the track.
Here’s the details and some direct links:
- Tickets & reception for 15,000 Starpoints – outright purchase of Saturday evening cocktail reception, GP tickets including lunch and grandstand seating, and Mercedes F1 team gift. For two people, on either Saturday 15th or Sunday 16th. Only two of these remaining at the time of writing.
- Auction for the above, plus a photo opportunity and meet & greet with Lewis – Friday, Saturday or Sunday tickets for 2 people, starting at 1,000 points
- Even more VIP hospitality at the track plus the meet & greet session – looks like you get additional or better hospitality options with this one, starting at 2,500 points for Friday and Saturday, but race day is already up at 38,500 points.
The first, outright purchase option is one I have gone for as it seems like a great deal for 2 people – Grandstand tickets are otherwise usually $200+ per person.
The auctions unfortunately don’t have a fixed end date, as the time remaining extends as bids are placed.
If you haven’t heard of SPG Moments auctions before, I wouldn’t be surprised – there are usually very few relevant to an Australian audience unless you’d be willing to travel for an experience. They usually leverage Starwood Hotel’s corporate sponsorships of different sporting events, arenas or personalities – in this case their sponsorship of the Mercedes F1 team. In the past they’ve had some decent US Open packages too.
Starwood Preferred Guest points can be transferred from American Express Membership Rewards at 2 Membership Rewards to 1 Starpoint, and the auctions are currently starting off at low bidding of just a couple of thousand points, and one with an outright purchase price of 15,000 points – so 30,000 Membership Rewards points. Transfers from Membership Rewards to Starwood usually take a couple of days.
A bargain, in my opinion (and one I’ve taken advantage of).
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