Starwood Preferred Guest - Double miles on BA!

Posted by skippythelizard here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/006206.html

On the News & Offers page after logging in to ba.com. US and Canada members only (isn't the new global programme great).

Fly free* on British Airways for fewer Starwood Points.

From now through March 31, 2004, you will receive double BA Miles when you convert your Starwood Preferred Guest® Starpoints.

Simply convert the points you've earned from the Starwood Preferred Guest programme into BA Miles, and for each Starpoint you convert you will receive the standard one BA Mile plus one additional BA Mile.

When you convert 20,000** Starwood Starpoints you'd normally receive 25,000 BA Miles. But with this limited time offer, 20,000 Starpoints = 50,000 BA Miles; or - that's enough to take you to European cities such as London or Rome.

For more examples of how your Starwood Starpoints can convert into your next trip overseas, see the table below - and remember BA Miles can be redeemed for free* flights to over 650 worldwide destinations. There is no minimum amount required to transfer points into BA Miles.


Starwood Star Points Normally received BA Miles Receive double BA Miles Destination

30,000 35,000 70,000 Ever fancied visiting Greece? Fly round-trip in World TravellerSM 65,000 BA Miles

40,000 50,000 100,000 Fly Club WorldSM to London 100,000 BA Miles


Wherever you wish to travel, this is an excellent opportunity to acquire the additional BA Miles you need to fly there free* with British Airways.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for the bonus BA Miles to appear on your account.

To qualify, your Executive Club account must have a preferred address within the US or Canada. Double Miles will be awarded for point conversions from February 1 through March 31, 2004, on up to a maximum of 99,999 Starpoints.

*All award travel remains subject to government-imposed taxes, fees and charges.

**For every 20,000 Starwood Starpoints converted into BA Miles, you will receive 5,000 bonus BA Miles - this bonus will also be doubled during the promotional time period.

Holy cow!!

So I transfer 20K * points and I get 50K BA miles?!?!?! That's insane http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I don't even have a BA FF account, but you can be sure I'll open one for this http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

One thing though, I can't find any reference to first class miles awards, only one amount per segment, presumably coach. Anyone know where I should be looking? I figure I'll transfer enough for 2 1st class tickets to europe or something and use them eventually http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by daveland:
One thing though, I can't find any reference to first class miles awards, only one amount per segment, presumably coach. Anyone know where I should be looking? I figure I'll transfer enough for 2 1st class tickets to europe or something and use them eventually</font>


I had the same question and per BA's website it looks like their formula is quite simple. Business ("Club World"/"Club Europe") class redemptions are 2x the coach rate and First class redemptions are 3x the coach rate.

So if I read it correctly, USA-Europe r/t would cost 50k, 100k, or 150k respectively for Y/J/F redemptions...

Gotcha, thanks! Seems like they are a bit pricier on 1st than the domestic carriers, but certainly not at double points ;-)

BTW, is there anyway to get the BA miles and transfer them out anywhere you could then move it to another airline? It doesn't seem you can move them to Amtrak (in which case you could have gotten UA miles at 1:2.5 instead of 2:! ;-)

Diners Club points can also be transferred to BA, but wait until summer when they regularly do their own double BA mile promo (unless this deal w/ SPG is meant to replace that -- hope not!). Look at the Diners forum more more details about signup and referral bonuses.

Your bigger problem is getting a BA account. They recently changed their program and it is now more difficult to get an account. See:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecjoinqualifying/public/en_us

for details. The FT BA forum may have more details about getting an account.

Not to be a wet blanket, but BA had a promo w/*wood which ended last November: transfer any *wood amount and BA will add a 500-mile bonus. Well, most people who did the transfer have yet to see the 500-mile bonus. I'd want to make sure that the double miles are posted at the same time before I started making plans for summer travel.

Wow, that's bizarre.... so they make you fly BEFORE you can apply for the FF account? I've never seen that before....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by daveland:

BTW, is there anyway to get the BA miles and transfer them out anywhere you could then move it to another airline?</font>

Oops, missed the point. Unfortunately, there is no way to get miles out of BA and into any other program.

I am considering taking advantage of this. I just need to figure out if it's more valuable to use BA points for OneWorld international travel in premium class, or if it's better to redeem the points for free nights at Starwood's premier properties, such as the Four Points in Omaha...

Do BA miles stay good as long as you have activity every so often?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by honu:
I'd want to make sure that the double miles are posted at the same time before I started making plans for summer travel.</font>

"Please allow 4-6 weeks for the bonus BA Miles to appear on your account."

Maybe the other deal had similar language?

IMO, there is zero chance BA renegs on this deal. They have always come through on the annual Diner's deal. Copy the offer page and save it just in case.

This sounds great. Unforunately I only have 5K starpoints. Any way I can transfer in Amex MR or some such to take advantage?

(Edited to add I went to MR site - points get whacked by 2/3 MR-&gt;*points so no good)

[This message has been edited by gardener (edited Jan 23, 2004).]

i still think the big problem is getting the BA account. if the post above is correct, you have to fly BA first before they will give you an account. since i have always used AAmericAAn or continental/klm/nw to fly to europe, i have never had the miles post to BA and, therefore, don't have a BA account.

You might be able to get around taking an acutal flight to obtain a frequent flyer account by applying for the FirstUSA British Airways Visa card. It states that you will automatically be enrolled if not already a member. Plus you'll get 15,000 miles with your first purchase ($75 annual fee).

I just applied and will keep my fingers crossed!

To earn BA Miles with the British Airways Visa®, you must be a U.S. resident and member of British Airways' frequent traveller programme, Executive Club. If you are not already a member, you will be enrolled automatically if you are approved for the card. For information about Executive Club , visit www.britishairways.com. (http://www.britishairways.com.) BA Miles are not earned on balance transfers, convenience checks, cash advances, or fees, including fees for products that protect or insure the balance of the cardmember's account. Miles earned with the British Airways Visa card will not be credited toward Executive Club tier level progression or retention.

http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi

To be safe, don't initiate a transfer before 2/1/2004. There is a major inconsistency in the offer text:

"From now through March 31, 2004, you will receive double BA Miles when you convert your Starwood Preferred Guest® Starpoints."

and

"Double Miles will be awarded for point conversions from February 1 through March 31, 2004, on up to a maximum of 99,999 Starpoints."

The Web site now shows a February 1st start date in both places.

Sorry for this naive question but is the maximum allowable transfer 99,999 per transfer or a yearly or lifetime maximum?

IF you are planning to take advantage of this offer and use the miles for travel on metal OTHER than BA - i.e. one of BA's travel partners - please keep this in mind:

Once ticketed award tickets on BA travel partners are absolutely positively UNCHANGABLE, not even for a fee.

Your travel plans had better be set in concrete before you make your ticketing arrangements.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Herb687:

I had the same question and per BA's website it looks like their formula is quite simple. Business ("Club World"/"Club Europe") class redemptions are 2x the coach rate and First class redemptions are 3x the coach rate.

So if I read it correctly, USA-Europe r/t would cost 50k, 100k, or 150k respectively for Y/J/F redemptions...</font>
https://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecredeemcalculator/public/en_us

after found the base miles needed for eco,

Cabin Multiple of base mileage

World Traveller Plus x1.5
Club Europe/Club World x2
FIRST x3

or upgrade purchased tickets

Cabin Multiple of base mileage

World Traveller (Y, B, H) to World Traveller Plus x0.5
World Traveller Plus (W, T) to Club World x0.5
Euro Traveller (Y, B, H) to Club Europe x1
World Traveller (Y, B, H) to Club World+ x1
Club World (J, C, D, I) to FIRST x1

so the best value is, to buy a World Traveller Plus (W, T) and upgrade that with 50 % base miles to Club World !

LAX or SFO to LON &gt; Farecode TLXAPUS $ 768 T + 25k miles = flat bed in club !

[This message has been edited by bertheike (edited Jan 24, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fly co to see the yanks:
i still think the big problem is getting the BA account. if the post above is correct, you have to fly BA first before they will give you an account. since i have always used AAmericAAn or continental/klm/nw to fly to europe, i have never had the miles post to BA and, therefore, don't have a BA account.</font>

Recently a friend of mine who already holds a BA exec club account opened 5 new accounts for the family and friends under household account without a flight. That could be one way to open the account, whose address can be changed without problem later on.

My question is simply how "available" are BA tix in business class or better ? If like Continental's "nonepass", EVERYONE knows award availiability is nil in Continental's program. You can have all the BA miles you want...if the seats aren't allocated to BA members, then why bother ?

I know I can spend some time in the BA folder and learn more, but I wanted to caution fellow spg members considering this that BA award availability has to be factored in.

Anyone had experience with BA's program in securing seats better than coach ?

After years of funneling miles to BA through the Diners 2-1 promo, we took the whole family to Greece last summer in BA FIRST to LHR then Club Europe to Athens. The trip was booked in the Spring. We did end up having to take stopovers in London in both directions (poor us!) because the flights that arrived in time to connect were not available as awards. I also used BA miles to fly the Concorde one way JFK-LHR in October after they added a few Concorde award seats to the inventory in September.

IMO BA does a great job of making award seats available.

[This message has been edited by dhacker (edited Jan 24, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fly co to see the yanks:
i still think the big problem is getting the BA account. if the post above is correct, you have to fly BA first before they will give you an account</font>

Oh that's not true. Don't you remember Pudding Guy's FT post earlier this year about getting 10,000 BA miles test driving a Jaguar? In addition, you just signed up on BA's website and (at that time) gave 2500 additional welcome BA FF miles.

Now all I need today is 2500 SPG points before their Feb 16th sweep to make a clear 20,000 SPG points for 50,000 BA miles? How do I get those without purchasing a CC or paying ridiclous 1:2 SPG point hotel costs? I don't see any decent promos on-going from now 'til at least the February sweep (I don't trust the March sweep in close proximity to the ending of the BA promo).

If I call SPG CS for the 500 SPG points owed to me from the 4pts Norwood website promo that isn't being honoured, that would be a plus, but still need a legit 2000 more.

Will study the BA award structure a little more. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Before the massive changes in the BA Executive Club NA program (effective 07/01/03), this would a steal I’ll jump right on. Now I have to think more carefully. For me, *points is hard to come by and I valuable them more than airline miles.

From NA using BA metals, it appears to be a good deal for free ticket to Europe using ECNA miles(be careful ECNA divide Europe into Europe1, Europe2 and Europe3/North Africa). Here’s the link to the award chart for BA metal only (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ba6.jsp/ecredeemtable/public/en_us) . On the other hand, a trip down under will cost 140/280/420K for Y/J/F, which is the biggest grief I have for the new award chart. (As a comparison, I redeem an award before the changes and travel this May JFK-HKG-SYD, MEL-LHR-JFK, CX outbound, BA inbound all in J for only 125K, with stopover on HKG and LHR).

As someone already mentioned, with the new ECNA program award ticket on partner airlines CANNOT be changed nor cancelled, not even with any change fee. So it is equivalent to the most restrictive, low fare revenue ticket. Here’s the link to the award chart for SINGLE partner airline (http://www.britishairways.com/executiveclubchanges/table_partner_only.html). Imagine you need to redeem a Qantas award to Aussie 330 days out in order to snag a F seat and you can never change your itinerary.....

For reward availability, it is day and night different when compare to OnePass. For example, I just check on-line and you can get a free business class ticket any day you want from now to end of the year for JFK-LHR. Of course, this is a little bias since I’m from NYC and this is one of the easiest route for a free ticket. I was also able to snag a Concorde flight last year thanks to BA (while AF would rather to fly their Concorde half empty) and a J ticket to Germany last summer. This tells you how good they are for award redemptions.

IMO, the best use of the ECNA miles under the new program is to upgrade from WT+ to Club World. For example, the cheapest WT+ is about $400 more than the cheapest WT for JFK-LHR. So for low season like Jan-Mar, I can expect to pay US$700-800, spend 25K for the upgrade and fly RT to London relaxing on their truly flat bed J cabin. This is way much better paying CO US$1500+40K miles just to get a chance of upgrade.

Last of all, ECNA has changed itself into a truly royalty program. People who travel in premium class will appreciate ECNA as they often have promotion like double/triple bonus miles on J/F. For those who plan to accrue additional miles by flying BA, only full fare coach(Y, B, H, I believe) will give you 100% miles. For other discount coach, you’ll receive 25% flown miles.

PS. If you check BA forum, I remember there were posts that people simply make a bogus premium revenue reservation and was able to get a BA account. You might want to follow those threads.

[This message has been edited by OnePassLover (edited Jan 24, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Cygnus X-1:
Now all I need today is 2500 SPG points before their Feb 16th sweep to make a clear 20,000 SPG points for 50,000 BA miles? How do I get those without purchasing a CC or paying ridiclous 1:2 SPG point hotel costs? </font>

Do you have any *Wood hotel stays coming up and are you a member of AAA? If so you can earn an additional 1K miles per stay for your first 3 stays after signing up, see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/007598.html

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yanxfann:
Do you have any *Wood hotel stays coming up and are you a member of AAA? If so you can earn an additional 1K miles per stay for your first 3 stays after signing up ... </font>

Actually, it's even better than that. The Starwood/AAA promo is retroactive to last June 1, so you don't have to have stays coming up. If you're a AAA member and you have stayed once, twice, or three times at a Starwood property since 6/1/03, sign up for this promo and you will get 1K, 2K, or 3K bonus Starpoints. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Just a tip for you all, you CAN signup for the EC if you hold a future booking, in other words just signup, fill in a flight number (like the BA444 LHR-AMS) and you'll get the membership number emailed instantly, the chance of BA doing cross references to retroactively close accounts with loads of Starwood transfer miles in them is very slim, there are NO known cases of this and accounts I tested this on that were created months ago are still very much active.

Does anyone have any good ways to quickly get 20K *wood points? I got rejected from the card because i'm a student and was hoping to cash in on this deal. Then again, this is a just a bit of a tall order.

To get 2 business or first class tickets to Australia from the US, how many Starwood points do you need to transfer?

------------------

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FOOLISHRUNNER:
To get 2 business or first class tickets to Australia from the US, how many Starwood points do you need to transfer?

</font>

It depends... if you are trying to go the long way US-Europe-Asia-Australia on BA, then it will be 280,000 in business (140,000 for coach) per person. If you want to go the short way on Qantas or Cathay, it will be 160,000 miles for each ticket in business (80,000 for coach). Not cheap, right? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I also have read that if you open the Bankone BA credit card but don't have a BA FF card, they'll let you open a FF account. There is currently a 15K bonus going to open the account. From what I've seen BA has decent availability on their flights between here and Europe....but I am comparing it to the worst availability CO.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Cygnus X-1:
Oh that's not true. Don't you remember Pudding Guy's FT post earlier this year about getting 10,000 BA miles test driving a Jaguar? In addition, you just signed up on BA's website and (at that time) gave 2500 additional welcome BA FF miles.
</font>
That's the point: "At that time". BA changed their program COMPLETELY last July 1 (a few months after the Jagauar test drive promo), and ever since July 1, 2003 you can only get into the BA FF program by either flying (and not discount coach, either!) or getting the BA Visa CC (at least in the US).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by OnePassLover:
Here’s the link to the award chart for SINGLE partner airline (http://www.britishairways.com/executiveclubchanges/table_partner_only.html). .....
[This message has been edited by OnePassLover (edited Jan 24, 2004).]</font>

So how is a domestic first class ticket on an AA 2 class flight calculated? 25,000x3 = 75,000 miles, or only 50,000? And Hawaii first is 105,000 (triple) or 70,000 (double)?

................

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by scruffy:
[B] from their terms & conditions:

"3.12 Membership will terminate automatically: ...
[B]</font>

Thanks scruffy for posting this, I'm one of the ones that - although I've earned over 100K BA miles thru the years - I've never actually touched BA metal as most of my miles have come via Diners xfers (with the rest coming via the old FirstUSA BA Visa, switching long distance etc). I was planning on transferring 20K *points at the beginning of Feb, due to your head's-up I will now have to explore this MUCH more closely before making any move.

If I transfer points into my EC account from Starwood that does count as having "earned" miles? My EC membership year ends Nov 2004. I am trying to extend it without (a paid) BA flight(s).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by luxury:
Sorry for this naive question but is the maximum allowable transfer 99,999 per transfer or a yearly or lifetime maximum?

</font>

Daily. This many points only in a 24 hour period. Otherwise, the transfer will reject.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Ready2Go:
Actually, it's even better than that. The Starwood/AAA promo is retroactive to last June 1, so you don't have to have stays coming up. If you're a AAA member and you have stayed once, twice, or three times at a Starwood property since 6/1/03, sign up for this promo and you will get 1K, 2K, or 3K bonus Starpoints. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Yes, I am a AAA Starwoods Prefered Plus member. I believe they owe me 1000 points from a stay at Tysons Corner in June that I made as that card member, but never posted. I will call CS about it this week. Also I am owed 500 points from that Norwood 4pts promo which that bogus hotel is not honouring. I'll do a stay if I can get another 1000 with AAA, I've yet to receive any points from that.

Thanks to the FT user for posting the links to BAs Y award charts. Very helpful quick click! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I'm still looking for the J award info. If I can somehow boost my BA account to 80000, I can use those for a couple of CX Y HKG-NRT RTs and fly F elsewhere from the US using AA miles.

Also, thanks to the FT user for the heads up on BAs changes to their FF program effective as of July. I didn't know about that. I think BA's decision is totally raw, trying to monopolize their status in the UK, rather than promoting a worldwide effort. Typical BA trash. I have a BA account from before that change, so I'm in. Will I fly BA, nope. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

So, is the 5k bonus good for each 20k transferred? So I could transfer 60k *points, get 15k bonus miles, and then double that to get the 150k to fly in BA FIRST to London?

That is sounding like a tremendous deal. 60k points= 7 night in a cat 4 @ 300 a night (generous) = $2,100 compared to $14,000 for the cheapest BA FIRST seat from SFO.

Yes, I believe you are correct that 60k spg = 150k BA during this promotion.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by boolean64:
So, is the 5k bonus good for each 20k transferred? So I could transfer 60k *points, get 15k bonus miles, and then double that to get the 150k to fly in BA FIRST to London?

That is sounding like a tremendous deal. 60k points= 7 night in a cat 4 @ 300 a night (generous) = $2,100 compared to $14,000 for the cheapest BA FIRST seat from SFO.</font>

First on BA SFO-LON-AMS is 10432 USD , but the best value is buying a WT+ ticket cheapest at the moment is TLXAPUS 768 USD and upgrade this for 25k miles into club world which cheapest is IHAPUS 3399 USD !
So you get 6 return upgrades * fare differenz each is 2631 USD * 6 = 15786 USD !!!
+ as a bonus you accumulate the miles from the paied WT+ ticket ( flown in NCW )into your oneworld account !

[This message has been edited by bertheike (edited Jan 27, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bertheike:
First on BA SFO-LON-AMS is 10432 USD , but the best value is buying a WT+ ticket cheapest at the moment is TLXAPUS 768 USD and upgrade this for 25k miles into club world which cheapest is IHAPUS 3399 USD !
So you get 6 return upgrades * fare differenz each is 2631 USD * 6 = 15786 USD !!!
+ as a bonus you accumulate the miles from the paied WT+ ticket ( flown in NCW )into your oneworld account !

[This message has been edited by bertheike (edited Jan 27, 2004).]</font>

True...assuming either a) you have and are willing to part with $768 six times or b) you and five of your friends have and are willing to part with $768.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yanxfann:
IF you are planning to take advantage of this offer and use the miles for travel on metal OTHER than BA - i.e. one of BA's travel partners - please keep this in mind:

Once ticketed award tickets on BA travel partners are absolutely positively UNCHANGABLE, not even for a fee.

Your travel plans had better be set in concrete before you make your ticketing arrangements.</font>

Does this problem include flights on ba in conjunction with a partner airline?

[This message has been edited by sergio (edited Jan 28, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by sergio:
Does this problem include flights on ba in conjunction with a partner airline?
</font>

You can find the Exec Club terms and conditions at http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ba6.jsp/ectermsenglish/public/en_us where it says, "14 CHANGES TO AWARDS

14.1 Flight bookings for Award travel on British Airways can only be changed by the Member or an individual nominated in accordance with Clause 3.13. Permitted changes are limited to the date, time, route and class of service of a relevant flight. All permitted changes are subject to capacity limitations and must be made not less than 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure of the flight. Name changes are not permitted. A fee as specified in the Handbook and available online at ba.com will be charged for each permitted change.


14.2 Flight bookings for Award travel on Airline Partners CANNOT be changed, Awards cannot be reissued or Mileage refunded."

I added the emphasis on the word "cannot" in the sentence above.

I don't think anyone has posted the link to the BA page with the promo info, it is here https://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecoffers002/execclub/_gf/en_us

I don't know what others will be doing but as soon as I have 20K *wood pts in my account (should be about Feb 2 or so) I will be calling *wood to do the BA transfer as - unless if I'm missing something - this is far too good of a deal to pass up.

A question for you Starwood experts on this subject.

I have an Amex account that I want to close. So I was thinking of transferring the final 121,000 MR points to Starwood.

With the 1000 MR to 333 Starpoints ratio, I figure that would give me just over 40,000 Starpoints.

Can I then go through this type of transfer to get 100,000 BA points?

The Starwood web site seems to say that you can only transfer points earned by staying at Starwood properties and partners to another program. But it seems that I have also seem some threads that say otherwise.

Thanks.

American Epress is considered one of their 'earning partners', so there is no problem here. I do it all the time.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Chuckles:
American Epress is considered one of their 'earning partners', so there is no problem here. I do it all the time.</font>

Schwwwweeeeeet!

Finally something useful to do with those remaining Amex points.

And maybe Starwood will win a new customer in the process. I am getting tired of Hilton ...

P.S. - I see the T&C now where Amex MR is an earning partner. Thanks!

[This message has been edited by skippythelizard (edited Jan 30, 2004).]

How long do BA miles stay active if you don't fly BA or use any of their partners? Also, the maximimum that you can get doubled is 99,999 Starwood points... but is there anyway to transfer in 100,000 points (so that you don't lose on of the 5,000 Starwood bonuses)?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Sammy:
Also, the maximimum that you can get doubled is 99,999 Starwood points... but is there anyway to transfer in 100,000 points (so that you don't lose on of the 5,000 Starwood bonuses)?</font>

What you would have to do is transfer 60K one day, and the remaining 40K the next, since the 99,999 points a day rule includes the 5K Starwood bonus. So transfering 60K equates to 75K total miles transfered. Transfering 80K after the 5K bonus equates to 100K, which is over the daily limit, and thus not allowed.

This is what I posted at the BA forum:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by OnePassLover:
It's always been the rule that SPG impose a 99,999 transfer limit per 24hr (for any airlines, not just BA). So Starwood Lurker simply confirm the transfer limit on SPG side, not specifically for the BA promotion. Whether BA misunderstood SPG's limit I don't know. But it is clearly post on BA's promotion that "Double Miles will be awarded for point conversions from February 1 through March 31, 2004, on up to a maximum of 99,999 Starpoints". I would ask for a written confirmation before I transfer more that 99,999 *points.
</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Ready2Go:
Actually, it's even better than that. The Starwood/AAA promo is retroactive to last June 1, so you don't have to have stays coming up. If you're a AAA member and you have stayed once, twice, or three times at a Starwood property since 6/1/03, sign up for this promo and you will get 1K, 2K, or 3K bonus Starpoints. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Can you shed more info on the RETROACTIVE part. I called to register for AAA promo and the rep said its NOT retroactive .. any links , info is helpfull.. I can get 2K for my 2 earlier stays...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by meghadhoot:
Can you shed more info on the RETROACTIVE part. I called to register for AAA promo and the rep said its NOT retroactive .. any links , info is helpfull.. I can get 2K for my 2 earlier stays...</font>

Just be patient. They do post retroactively or they did for me at least. I got all 3 1,000 bonus points at once for 3 stays in the past.

For those of you who don't have a BA account and are trying to open one the sneaky way - beware! I tried that last summer for the DC 1:1 promo and almost every month I got a letter from BA telling me that they don't see any new FLIGHT activity on my BA account and I should contact them immediatly... I got so worried that I cashed out my 25,000 miles for a domestic award and haven't heard from them since....

The reports in the BA forum is that the double points are NOT posting:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/005544-2.html

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yanxfann:
I don't think anyone has posted the link to the BA page with the promo info, it is here https://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecoffers002/execclub/_gf/en_us

I don't know what others will be doing but as soon as I have 20K *wood pts in my account (should be about Feb 2 or so) I will be calling *wood to do the BA transfer as - unless if I'm missing something - this is far too good of a deal to pass up.</font>
I tried and got the following answer :
"Sorry, this offer is no longer available. "

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Markie:
The reports in the BA forum is that the double points are NOT posting:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/005544-2.html</font>

Your comment does not make sense. The double point conversion does not start until 2/1.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bertheike:

I tried and got the following answer :
"Sorry, this offer is no longer available. "
</font>

I just tried the link again and it worked for me - perhaps it didn't work for you because your acct isn't registered in the US or Canada?

A fantastic promotion ... sadly EU members discriminated again, they are excluded from this offer.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yanxfann:
I just tried the link again and it worked for me - perhaps it didn't work for you because your acct isn't registered in the US or Canada?

</font>
yes, it has to be a US Account which has to log in ! Only then shows the info which I copied and paste here
Fly free* on British Airways for fewer Starwood StarpointsSM.

From February 1 through March 31, 2004, you will receive double BA Miles when you convert your Starwood Preferred Guest® Starpoints.

Simply convert the points you've earned from the Starwood Preferred Guest programme into BA Miles, and for each Starpoint you convert you will receive the standard one BA Mile plus one additional BA Mile.

When you convert 20,000** Starwood Starpoints you'd normally receive 25,000 BA Miles. But with this limited time offer, 20,000 Starpoints = 50,000 BA Miles; or - that's enough to take you to European cities such as London or Rome.

For more examples of how your Starwood Starpoints can convert into your next trip overseas, see the table below - and remember BA Miles can be redeemed for free* flights to over 650 worldwide destinations. There is no minimum amount required to transfer points into BA Miles.

Starwood Star Points Normally received BA Miles Receive double BA Miles

Wherever you wish to travel, this is an excellent opportunity to acquire the additional BA Miles you need to fly there free* with British Airways.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for the bonus BA Miles to appear on your account.

To qualify, your Executive Club account must have a preferred address within the US or Canada. Double Miles will be awarded for point conversions from February 1 through March 31, 2004, on up to a maximum of 99,999 Starpoints.

*All award travel remains subject to government-imposed taxes, fees and charges.

**For every 20,000 Starwood Starpoints converted into BA Miles, you will receive 5,000 bonus BA Miles - this bonus will also be doubled during the promotional time period.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zakami:
Just be patient. They do post retroactively or they did for me at least. I got all 3 1,000 bonus points at once for 3 stays in the past.</font>

Will lookout for it. Thanks zakami!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ddavis:
So how is a domestic first class ticket on an AA 2 class flight calculated? 25,000x3 = 75,000 miles, or only 50,000? And Hawaii first is 105,000 (triple) or 70,000 (double)?

</font>


was wondering this as well in relation to Hawaii first class?


[This message has been edited by ORDNorth (edited Feb 02, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ORDNorth:

was wondering this as well in relation to Hawaii first class?


[This message has been edited by ORDNorth (edited Feb 02, 2004).]</font>

The way I presume it would work is that it is double miles on domestic two class service and triple miles on domestic 3-class service.

Just FYI to others who are nervous about the conversion ... I initiated a transfer from Starwood to BA on Feb 6.

The transfer posted today with the bonus miles posted automatically.

I transferred 60K Starpoints, which became 75K with the airline bonus. It posted to my BA account as 150K.

(Note: My BAEC account is based in the US. The T&C of this promo says that it is only for US & Canada residents.)

Same thing for me - transferred 60K and received 150K today

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rnprasad:
Recently a friend of mine who already holds a BA exec club account opened 5 new accounts for the family and friends under household account without a flight. That could be one way to open the account, whose address can be changed without problem later on.</font>

How does this affect things:

"Please note that any BA Miles collected by a member of a Household Account can only be redeemed by members of the same Household Account and not by other members outside of that specific Account."

So can a household member break away and redeem miles for whomever he likes?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Sammy:
How long do BA miles stay active if you don't fly BA or use any of their partners?</font>

On their recording on 800.452.1201:

"Be sure to earn or redeem BA miles with British Airways or our partners once in every 36 month period to keep your mileage balance from expiring."

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by daveland:
Wow, that's bizarre.... so they make you fly BEFORE you can apply for the FF account? I've never seen that before....</font>

If you get the Bank One BA credit card it automatically opens a ff account and you get a 15K mile bonus to start.

ROb

I had a household account with my husband. In order to give my mother a ticket, we had to disband the household account. Since they say it is easy to recreate, I haven't bothered yet since not being a part of a household account gives me more flexibility to use the miles.

Do you have to transfer 20k at a time to get the bonus? Meaning, separate transfers in each 24 hour period?

This is a lot like the great benefit up until 12/31/02 where we could transfer starwood points to Qantas for a 1:2 ratio. Lots of us loyal Starwood fans moved points to Qantas and then redeemed BA(OW Partner) reward tix on the Concorde. Oh, the memories......

The OneWorld alliance is strong and with your points in the BA account you can go pretty much anywhere. Premium seats on BA have a much better value than a free starwood night, IMHO, so the transfer opportunity seems like a no-brainer.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL:
This is a lot like the great benefit up until 12/31/02 where we could transfer starwood points to Qantas for a 1:2 ratio. Lots of us loyal Starwood fans moved points to Qantas and then redeemed BA(OW Partner) reward tix on the Concorde. Oh, the memories......

The OneWorld alliance is strong and with your points in the BA account you can go pretty much anywhere. Premium seats on BA have a much better value than a free starwood night, IMHO, so the transfer opportunity seems like a no-brainer.</font>

I agree with this. I think this is one of the best use of Starpoints in a while.

It can be maximized by combining it with the Nights and Flights award, so for 70,000 points you get 50,000 miles sent to BA, which becomes 100,000, in addition to 5 free nights in a Category 4 hotel. That's a free Club World ticket from the US to London and 5 free nights at the Belgravia (or one of the other SPG London properties).

Though I believe the best current BA award is buying a World Traveler Plus ticket for around $700-800 right now and then use 25,000 miles to confirm the round-trip into Club World. The BA Exec. Club web site lets you price out the cost at the World Traveler Plus level and look at availability, by date, for upgrading to Club World, so you can buy the ticket and confirm & choose your seats in Club World right then and there -- all for the cost of the ticket and 25,000 miles round-trip, per person. How cool is that?!

I'm thinking of doing this in mid--to-late-September for four of us. Looking at availability on the web site, I can just about pick any date I want, both directions.
Just like Continental and NW, huh? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif


<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by arnitaruiz:
Do you have to transfer 20k at a time to get the bonus? Meaning, separate transfers in each 24 hour period?</font>

You have to transfer at least 20,000 at a time in order to get the 5K bonus.

But, if you did a transfer of 40,000 at one time, you would receive the 5,000 bonus for each 20,000 you transferred. So, for a total of 40,000 of your Starpoints, 50,000 would be sent by SPG to BA, which would become 100,000 when BA doubles it.

AZ thats a great idea thanks. can you do all of us a favor and lets us know if BA gave U 120,000 miles. 50,000 SPG = 20,000 + 5,000 = 25,000 X 2 = 100,000 BA plus theres another 10,000 left over so thats 10,000x2=20,000 BA so if Im right then its 100,000+20,000 = 120,000 plus the nights in the hotel.
Now the question is, Did you get 120,000 from BA. Thanks

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by craz:
AZ thats a great idea thanks. can you do all of us a favor and lets us know if BA gave U 120,000 miles. 50,000 SPG = 20,000 + 5,000 = 25,000 X 2 = 100,000 BA plus theres another 10,000 left over so thats 10,000x2=20,000 BA so if Im right then its 100,000+20,000 = 120,000 plus the nights in the hotel.
Now the question is, Did you get 120,000 from BA. Thanks</font>


Sure, I'll advise when my miles post with BA (I requested the 70K Nights & Flights award on Monday, 2/16 & nothing yet.)

I am only expecting 100,000 to hit BA, though. 50K from SPG, doubled by BA to 100K.

I don't follow your math that comes up with the "10,000 left over so thats 10,000x2=20,000 BA". Where does the extra 10,000 from SPG come from?

I was hoping that some how the extra 5000 fromSPG would kick in. Its 20,000=25,000 so I was hoping that maybe there would some extra coming out of it. if you transfered 50,000 as 20,000, 20,000,10,000 you would end up with 120,000. could be if you transferred anything more than the 20,000 min you dont get any extra or maybe you still do. Then again you cashed in for a special deal.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by craz:
I was hoping that some how the extra 5000 fromSPG would kick in. Its 20,000=25,000 so I was hoping that maybe there would some extra coming out of it. if you transfered 50,000 as 20,000, 20,000,10,000 you would end up with 120,000. could be if you transferred anything more than the 20,000 min you dont get any extra or maybe you still do. Then again you cashed in for a special deal.</font>

Oh, I get it now. If I were transferring 50,000 Starpoints from my SPG account straight away, SPG would add 5,000 to every 20,000 that I transferred. So for 40K of the 50K they would add 10,000. My additional 10K I was transferring would not have anything added to it. So in short, I would ask that SPG transfer 50K, which SPG turns into 60K when sending it to BA and BA would double it for 120K. What a great use of 50K Starpoints!

In my case, however, I'm transferring 50K as part of the Nights & Flights award, so that 50K already includes the points that SPG is chipping in.

That doesn't mean, however that there won't be any more transfers between now and March 31. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

It looks like the T&C of this promo is very unclear. Does the 99,999 maximum Starpoints limit the daily transfer limit or is that BA will not double more than the first 99,999 Starpoints you transfer? I am leaning towards the latter explanation as it seems BA would want to put a cap on this promo. But there is a way of going around this - that is to transfer some points to your 'household' group and have them transfer it to BA using their BA #. That way, you can be certain that you will get double points for more than 100K starpoints transfer.

Agreed, this is a great use of Starpoints, even better than Qantas in my view... Now as to where and how to use these BA miles...to each of their own and my lips are sealed. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Forgot to add, BA also allows pooling of points from people of 'same household' so whether the points is under one person or many people is not a problem, you can use them all. Technically, you have to live together but if you don't say, who knows? BA doesn't require proof of 'living together' as far as I know - unless BA too has been abducted by some XXX groups too. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

do u know how ba pts expire. are they extended by transferring pts in

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by welookgood.com:
do u know how ba pts expire. are they extended by transferring pts in</font>

BA miles are valid for 3 years but it can be extended provided you got at least one transaction every 3 year. It will push back the date by 3 years from your transaction date.

Any SPG / BA transfer bonus for this year, spring 2007?
Good value and participation on the part of SPG and BA
for several years....

In spring 2006 was reduced to 30%. Is 2007 going to be
the big zero???
Rgds
JDR

Any SPG / BA transfer bonus for this year, spring 2007?
Good value and participation on the part of SPG and BA
for several years....

In spring 2006 was reduced to 30%. Is 2007 going to be
the big zero???
Rgds
JDR

Usually, it takes two to tango, so no one is going to know until British Airways Executive Club contacts us and makes a pitch for it.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com