Starwood Preferred Guest - Waiting for a Canadian CC for *W

I am getting impatient waiting for a CC for Canadians to earn more points at Starwood hotels.

As a Canadian Plat member for many years, it is **** hard to earn serious points on this program as our points get converted to US$, therefore less points, like other nationalities.

The only way to make up for this to use a *Wood CC, which is still not avaoilable to us. I have posted on thsi topic before but still no action by cc or *W.

When will we get our own cc? Several banks such as RBC have introduced affinity cards for AA and BA, let alone Canadian airlies, but when will we get a cc for *Wood???

Giddy up. I'd have one in a heartbeat if they offered us one.

Sadly I hear that there are already some sorts of agreements in place BY Amex in Canada for something else. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Surely with all of the affintity cards out there that having 2 interested people right here must be enough to start another one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Don't hold your breath. As a Canadian who was always somewhat sceptical of the "free trade" agreement between our two great nations, I'm not surprised at constant examples of the "us" and "them" mentality that still prevails among many cross border corporations. Maybe when the new CanAmerican $ makes an appearance will we see a more unified corporate product.

I guess the best we will do is Amex MRs, where 1000 MRs are worth about 250 Starpoints, certainly not a very good conversion rate. I don't think there are enough Starwood PG members in this country to make an affinity card profitable to the bank that issues it.

Shareholder,

I'm not so sure there aren't enough people interested. If you recall Vancity Bank In YVR was offering a C3000 points card for a time. Certainly more people could be interested in an SPG card. If you have a Aerogold card you need 15,000 bucks spent for the lowest award, one could have a free weekend night @ a 4PTS after only a couple of Grand. I would drop DC, VISA, and my MC in a second. I could be earning a night or two a week.

Marc

There isn't enough SPG members in Canada to set up a SPG CC. Despite the relative high knowledge about FF programs here on Flyertalk, the majority of consumers and a significant portion of frequent travellers have very little clues beyond Aeroplan miles and Air Miles. I just spoke with a female colleague today and she was very happy to have a no fee Air Miles CC. Tried to explain to her it isn't the best one out there but never had the chance to finish our conversation...but it shows one thing: There is a growing awareness about earning points through CC but the level of knowledge is very, very low by Flyertalk standard.

That aside, I think I have shared my tips before: I have a SPG AMEX card (USD) and I work and live in Canada. What you need is a good credit rating, preferrably many years with AMEX Canada. Then, if you are interested in a U.S. based card, they could help you to apply for one but there is no guarantee. It would help you a great deal if you can show as much as possible of the following:

1) You have U.S. source income
2) You work/have worked in the U.S.
3) You have a resdience in the U.S.
4) You seem like a big spender
5) Talk to the right person to help you

I urge anyone interested to email RBC card products. I emailed them a while ago requesting an option to transfer my Avion points to spg points. I mentioned how I appreciated the opportunity to transfer Avion points to BA or AA, but that I would like a hotel partner option. I suggested the award winning SPG Program as a worthy partner. They were quite receptive to the idea, but I haven't heard anything in a while. If they get enough requests, maybe?

The real snag that I see, is the ability to transfer SPG point to Aeroplan points. Does CIBC have some some sort of exclusivity agreement with AC?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by sockboy:
I urge anyone interested to email RBC card products. I emailed them a while ago requesting an option to transfer my Avion points to spg points. I mentioned how I appreciated the opportunity to transfer Avion points to BA or AA, but that I would like a hotel partner option. I suggested the award winning SPG Program as a worthy partner. They were quite receptive to the idea, but I haven't heard anything in a while. If they get enough requests, maybe?

The real snag that I see, is the ability to transfer SPG point to Aeroplan points. Does CIBC have some some sort of exclusivity agreement with AC?</font>

RBC is a smart bank, they have created a unique niche market by offering the Avion card, the only card in the world which allows direct transfers to both AA and BA at a rate, 50% more than UK or U.S. based equivalent cards. 1 USD spent would yield approximatively 1.6 AA or BA mile, something even the Americans would envy. I won't be surprised if they are actively thinking about including a hotel partner like Starwood into their portfolio but the problem would be the cost. RBC is Canadian based and due to the high cost of SPG points denominated in USD, it would be hard for them to provide 1 point for 1 SPG point. However, if they can beat the transfer ratio of SPG AMEX card by playing with the exchange rate, then the option could not only be viable but very attractive. Look at this example:

SPG AMEX

$100 USD = 100 SPG points

Hypothetical SPG transfer RBC Avion card

1 Avion point = 0.75 SPG points

$1 USD = 1.6 Avion point

so $100 USD = 160 Avion points = 120 SPG points

In this example, the transfer is not one-to-one, making it more economically viable for RBC to provide the product. Due to the exchange ratio however, the amount of SPG points gained is still 20% over what SPG AMEX would provide, giving it a real competitive edge.

Interesting progress with RBC Avion. In the latest Avion 'Excursions' newsletter, The Westin has a 'Partner' offer listed. (30% off for selected dates). Is RBC and SPG starting to develop a relationship?

http://www.royalbank.com/cards/rbcrewards/newsletters/excursions/excursions5.html