I have looked at that thread. The thing is, I really want AA miles, not more Amex points. I'm trying to use up all my remaining Amex points (I used the bulk of them for tickets to France) and close my Amex account, so I'm hoping to make the most of these few remaining points. But given my travel needs (well, desires, really) and my home airport location, Amex Rewards points are not very useful to me. American flies from my home town, and partners with BA, which I like to use from London to Africa.
It is not that wrong here as oyu are specifically looking on to get not any kind of miles but AA miles. The people in this board are more likely to know about ways to get there than in the pure amex forum because this may involve let's say several steps.
Moderator: Other Credit Card Programs, American Express Membership Rewards, Newsstand, OMNI and OMNI/PR
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Spg Amex
SPG Amex has the best conversion rate right now. If you apply for and receive an SPG Amex, you can transfer your MR points to Starwood with the same "cost" you state above (you'll get 33 SPG points for every 100 MR points you transfer). However, each time you transfer 20K points from Starwood to an airline, you get a 5K bonus, making your conversion rate 41 cents on the dollar. Not great, but the highest I'm aware of.
SPG used to run a promo where they reduced the MR conversion from 3:1 to 2:1, but have not done so in some time.
Celia,
As mentioned above the SPG Amex is one of the best ways to accrue AA miles.
You also get a coupon good for up to 3 free nights after you use the card. I have it less than a year and I am already a few hundred shy of 20K points and more importantly, 25K AA miles after I convert them!!!
Moderator: Other Credit Card Programs, American Express Membership Rewards, Newsstand, OMNI and OMNI/PR
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Ashburn, VA
Programs: AA EXPLAT, 2MM lifetime, only 21 months to earn the second million! SPG PLT
Posts: 1,559
Quote:
Originally Posted by cactuspete
What?
They always offer the good stuff *after* I sign up. Wouldn't it be nice to find a company that gave extra incentives to loyal customers who don't hop from place to place looking for the best freebie.
I've been a Citibank customer for 20 years, and they've finally gotten around to some really decent benefits for long-term customers.
Moderator: Other Credit Card Programs, American Express Membership Rewards, Newsstand, OMNI and OMNI/PR
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Ashburn, VA
Programs: AA EXPLAT, 2MM lifetime, only 21 months to earn the second million! SPG PLT
Posts: 1,559
Quote:
Originally Posted by nebratu
If I transfer less than 20K points, let's say 15K, I assume I won't get any sort of bonus (25%)
Correct. However, you'd be amazed how quickly you get to 20K with the various SPG bonuses. My general theory is I just park my miles in SPG unless I need them for an airline ticket. There are some FTers who feel transferring SPG points to airline miles is a waste because of their value at SPG properties. I'm not one of them. It really depends on what you need.
Regardless of the above, SPG is still the most value, in my opinion, since it does give you a lot of options to redeem your points.
