DL Amex Vs. Starwood Amex
Apr 27, 2001 | 6:05 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: BOS
Posts: 254
DL Amex Vs. Starwood Amex
Which one is better?
I already have DL Amex but they are going to charge me $85 since one year is over.
I have noticed most of the times Starwood Amex is left out of promotions like Double miles etc. But has no annual fee.
Any suggestions?
I already have DL Amex but they are going to charge me $85 since one year is over.
I have noticed most of the times Starwood Amex is left out of promotions like Double miles etc. But has no annual fee.
Any suggestions?
Apr 27, 2001 | 6:17 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Massachusetts, USA; AA 2.996MM & Plat Pro, DL 1MM, GM & Flying Colonel
Posts: 25,037
If you redeem 20,000 points at the same time, the Starwood card gives you a 25% bonus and you get 25,000 airline miles. This may work out to more of a bonus than double miles on things like gasoline and supermarket purchases, though if you buy a lot of Delta tickets the Delta card may be worth the $85. Figure out how much you spend with double-miles partners in a year, how many extra miles that works out to, and what those miles are worth at your favorite value per mile.
Apr 27, 2001 | 7:09 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: SPG Plat, HH Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,015
The short answer: Unless you only travel on DL, Starwood is better because you have much more flexibility and can top off many airline accounts.
The long answer: It depends what you buy. Here's one example:
Annual spending: $50K
Miles subject to DL double miles: 10K
DL annual fee: $85
With these parameters, you'd get 40K miles for $40K DL spending plus 20K miles for the other $10K. So you'd have 60K miles minus the worth of the $85 fee (about 3K). So you'd have a value of about 57K miles.
With Starwood, 50K miles would be worth 62.5K (50 x 1.25).
If your own situation is close to this one, I'd go with Starwood because of the flexibility. Note that the card is supposed to be "improved" in June. Everyone is waiting to see if this is true.
The long answer: It depends what you buy. Here's one example:
Annual spending: $50K
Miles subject to DL double miles: 10K
DL annual fee: $85
With these parameters, you'd get 40K miles for $40K DL spending plus 20K miles for the other $10K. So you'd have 60K miles minus the worth of the $85 fee (about 3K). So you'd have a value of about 57K miles.
With Starwood, 50K miles would be worth 62.5K (50 x 1.25).
If your own situation is close to this one, I'd go with Starwood because of the flexibility. Note that the card is supposed to be "improved" in June. Everyone is waiting to see if this is true.
Apr 27, 2001 | 8:20 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NC, USA
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AA Exec Plat, Marriott Lifetime Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,017
Sorry for what be a kind of obvious question to most of you , but I presume when you say Starwood that that refers the the Westin, Sheraton, etc properties, right? Also, is there a specific link to check out the Starwood Amex card specifics (ie: interest rate, annual fees, etc)?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Apr 27, 2001 | 8:51 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Ashburn, VA (IAD/DCA/BWI)
Posts: 2,757
Originally posted by scotty00:
Sorry for what be a kind of obvious question to most of you , but I presume when you say Starwood that that refers the the Westin, Sheraton, etc properties, right? Also, is there a specific link to check out the Starwood Amex card specifics (ie: interest rate, annual fees, etc)?
Thanks!
Sorry for what be a kind of obvious question to most of you , but I presume when you say Starwood that that refers the the Westin, Sheraton, etc properties, right? Also, is there a specific link to check out the Starwood Amex card specifics (ie: interest rate, annual fees, etc)?
Thanks!
Except for the annual fee others features like interest rate, grace period are similar.
WARNINGMost of reward cards (if not all) have higher interest rates & fees. You have to pay off the bill to make these worth while. DO NOT carry balance! (unless you have low % rate promo)
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