American Express Membership Rewards - Which is better: Amex Gold MR or SPG Amex Rewards

Does anyone have a comparision that they can post that shows the difference between the amex membership rewards gold card and the amex spg rewards card?

I would like to see the differences between the two cards.

Does anyone have a comparision that they can post that shows the difference between the amex membership rewards gold card and the amex spg rewards card?

I would like to see the differences between the two cards.

Have you tried Amex website?
http://www201.americanexpress.com/getthecard/home?sj_tabToOpen=3
http://www201.americanexpress.com/getthecard/compare-cards/travel-reward-cards

Also, there is a master thread regarding SPG Amex that might be helpful to you.

Whether I want to earn more points for Hotel stays at somewhere like Hilton (9 points per night) vs. 1.5 with marriott Gold Rewards plus. The Amex Gold will let you transfer points pretty much anywhere.

I was wondering what others have done with regards to this given that some chaings have devalued the hotels and require more points.

Since my flying is limited, an airline card doesnt seem to be in the equasion.

It comes down to a hotel card to earn hotel points fast and the Amex Gold Rewards card which offers some benefits the hotel card does not offer but only gives you 1.5 points per dollar spent at a hotel.

Does anyone have a comparision that they can post that shows the difference between the amex membership rewards gold card and the amex spg rewards card?

I would like to see the differences between the two cards.

Quick answer:
Get both cards for bonus, and spend only spg amex. The only time one wants to use amex gold is to transfer the points to continental airlines. Spg points have about 50% more value than MR points.

Whether I want to earn more points for Hotel stays at somewhere like Hilton (9 points per night) vs. 1.5 with marriott Gold Rewards plus. The Amex Gold will let you transfer points pretty much anywhere.

There is some confusion.

1. Are you asking about the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card or about a Hilton HHonors card? The Title mentions SPG, but your example mentions Hilton.

2. No American Express card earns 1.5 points per dollar at Marriott hotels. The Rewards Plus Gold card offered 1.5 points per dollar only when spending with Membership Rewards transfer partner hotel chains and airlines. You can see the transfer partners here (hotels and airlines on separate tabs)...

http://www.membershiprewards.com/catalog/travel/NewPointsTransfer.aspx?tab=airlines&mrnavlink=topnav:TravelFreqFlyerProg

3. Be aware that the Rewards Plus Gold card is no longer offered on americanexpress.com . It has been replaced by the Premier Rewards Gold card which does not offer any hotel spend bonus...

http://www201.americanexpress.com/getthecard/learn-about/Premier-Rewards-Gold.

No doubt you can still find online application links for Rewards Plus Gold, but if that's the card you want don't delay applying. However, if you are primarily interested in hotel rewards you will do much better with Hilton, Starwood or other chain affinity card.

If you shop online, you may want to look either at the Hilton Amex or an Amex that gives MR, but not the SPG Amex. This is because the Hilton Amex and MR-generating Amex have "bonus malls", where you click through their sites to internet retailer websites and get bonus points for shopping online. This is a particularly good way to accumulate points if you do Christmas shopping online, because the extra points can really add up and many retailers offer free or discounted shipping around Christmas. I spent about $2000 online around Christmas last year, generating about 10,000 points.

If you shop online, you may want to look either at the Hilton Amex or an Amex that gives MR, but not the SPG Amex. This is because the Hilton Amex and MR-generating Amex have "bonus malls", where you click through their sites to internet retailer websites and get bonus points for shopping online. This is a particularly good way to accumulate points if you do Christmas shopping online, because the extra points can really add up and many retailers offer free or discounted shipping around Christmas. I spent about $2000 online around Christmas last year, generating about 10,000 points.

Kate_Canuck,

A bit off topic, but I think sites like fatwallet.com and bing.com give better rewards then bonuspointsmall.com in most of the cases. The best part you get cash back, You can also search for different rewards among different programs at www.evreward.com

Yes the Amex MR Gold plus card has recently been replaced. Points on it are 1.5 per dollar spent. Transfers to other programs are mostly not 1 to 1 and do cost a lot of points.

I am interested in racking up points towards free rooms. The SPG Amex card looks pretty good but so does the Hilton Surpass card now that i look at it. Hilton has unfortunately devalued its points and raised point requirements but Surpass gives you 40,000 points for new members and the 2500 per stay bonus for 8 stays in a 18 month period. This would total 60,000 points if one gets a Amex Hilton Surpass card.

Unfortunately SPG has few hotels in my travel area because I really like their 1 for 1 transfer to airlines. That seemed like the best Hotel affinity card but the Surpass looks enticing. Does anyone know of a better card for building up hotel points and transfer of points to airlines?