Starwood Hotels & Resorts earlier this month kicked off an offer for meeting planners to earn extra loyalty points. The steward of the Sheraton, Westin, W, St. Regis, Le Meridien brands, among others, is providing group customers who plan a meeting at any of 300 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Canada double and triple bonus Starwood Preferred Planner points, or Starpoints.Planners who book up to 250 rooms are now eligible for double Starpoints, up to 40,000; 251 to 500 rooms earns triple Starpoints, up to 60,000; and event organizers using 500 rooms or more will receive triple Starpoints, up to 100,000.The promotion applies only to meetings booked by July 21 and held by March 31, 2009.Starpoints can be redeemed for a variety of awards, including free stayswith no blackout datesaround the world. Also, meeting planners can transfer Starpoints to over 30 airline loyalty programs.The company created the program to give meeting buyers an easy way to choose between multiple hotels and get rewarded for their business, said Dave Marr, vice president of sales and marketing."Planners are as time-crunched as the rest of us, if not more so," he said. "Rather than bombard them with one-off promotions for assorted hotels, we wanted to develop a consistent offer."Originally published May 19, 2008