American Express Membership Rewards - Membership reward points versus SPG pts

Just received an awesome offer with up to 100,000 bonus points the first year with a Amex Buisness Gold Card. I would hit all the levels to achieve the bonus. I am just wondering why I should do it? I looked at some offers and they seem way out of wack compared to what you get with Starpoints. Granted the Starpoints are limited. However for 50,000 starpoints you can stay 5 nights a pretty nice Hotel (I would say MINIMUM $300 per night). Say you had 300,000 points that would be 30 nights @ $300 a pop.. 9grand or you get a cruise for 2 people on Royal Carribean worth no more than 3500.

Even the airline miles which they say trade 1-1 Starpoints trade 20,000 for 25,000.......

I know the selection is vast on the membership rewards however am I missing something else?

Thanks!

Just received an awesome offer with up to 100,000 bonus points the first year with a Amex Buisness Gold Card. I would hit all the levels to achieve the bonus. I am just wondering why I should do it? I looked at some offers and they seem way out of wack compared to what you get with Starpoints. Granted the Starpoints are limited. However for 50,000 starpoints you can stay 5 nights a pretty nice Hotel (I would say MINIMUM $300 per night). Say you had 300,000 points that would be 30 nights @ $300 a pop.. 9grand or you get a cruise for 2 people on Royal Carribean worth no more than 3500.

Even the airline miles which they say trade 1-1 Starpoints trade 20,000 for 25,000.......

I know the selection is vast on the membership rewards however am I missing something else?

Thanks!

Well, IMHO, the 100,000 MR points might be better because A) All the bonus miles (100,000) that you get transfer 1:1 to airlines (even vs 20,000:25,000 at spg, 100,000 bonus miles is far superior). AND
B) SPG card RARELY has anything but 1:1 for anything. Amex gold has 2 points/dollar for everyday spending plus regular double and triple points promotions every few months.

I have a gold card and a SPG card and personally, I spend only on SPG when there are no Amex gold promotions and vice versa when there are. But it'd be worth it to spend only on Amex gold to get the 100,000 bonus miles, I think. That's 4 free round trip tickets with bonus miles in 1 year....

Without a bonus, Starwood is better, because you can transfer at 1.25:1 to more airlines choices than you can at 1:1 with Membership Rewards. You also have to pay cash tax to transfer points out of Membership Rewards, but not with Starwood. However, 100K bonus points is a good offer. Get Membership Rewards for the first year. Earn the 100K points. After the year is over, reevaluate which is better. If you decide to go with Starwood at that point, wait for a bonus transfer offer and move your points to your favorite airline before switching.

Very astute analysis.
For other than airline or hotel stays, it seems that the MR points are valued generally at 1 cents per point or less. For example 5,000 points gets $50 in Home Depo gift card.
Are there any really better uses of MR ( outside of airline or hotels)?

Without a bonus, Starwood is better, because you can transfer at 1.25:1 to more airlines choices than you can at 1:1 with Membership Rewards. You also have to pay cash tax to transfer points out of Membership Rewards, but not with Starwood. However, 100K bonus points is a good offer. Get Membership Rewards for the first year. Earn the 100K points. After the year is over, reevaluate which is better. If you decide to go with Starwood at that point, wait for a bonus transfer offer and move your points to your favorite airline before switching.

Assuming it is this offer (http://www66.americanexpress.com/sbsapply/servlet/FMACServlet?request_type=LearnMore&bos=b&ct=24&iep=35), it is not 100,000 bonus points. There are 40,000 bonus points plus one earned point per dollar charged. The 100,000 point total is an example based on charging $60,000.

<<Amex gold has 2 points/dollar for everyday spending>>

Not on business cards.