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SPG American Express [Master Thread]

Old Jun 12, 2014, 11:11 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: CodeAdam10
For discussion of the now expired offer for a 35K signup bonus, see Amex SPG 35,000 business and personal cards-2016 [No referral offers in this thread.]

USA-issued card benefits changed on August 11, 2015. (Announcement & extended discussion at American Express and Starwood enhance cobrand credit card benefits.) The benefits are slightly different for personal and business cards:

Public Links:
- Earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Offer ends 04/24/2019.

- The Annual Fee is $450.

- Earn 6x at Marriott properties; 3x on restaurants and airfare; 2x on all other purchases.

- Enjoy up to $300 in statement credits each year of Card Membership for eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels

- FREE NIGHT AWARD: Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) at a participating hotel.

- COMPLIMENTARY GOLD ELITE STATUS: Enjoy complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status with your Card. Earn Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status after making $75,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.

- Other Highlighted Benefits: Priority Pass Select Membership, Global Entry credit, No Foreign Transaction fees.


- Earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Offer ends 04/24/2019.

- $125 Annual Fee (If application received before 03/28/19, $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95)

- Earn 6x at Marriott properties; 4x at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services & on U.S. purchases for shipping; 2x on all other purchases.

- Free Night Award: Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) at a participating hotel.

- Complimentary Silver Elite Status

- No Foreign Transaction Fees

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SPG American Express [Master Thread]

Old Apr 5, 2017, 3:28 pm
  #3151  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SFO
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 756
Originally Posted by lFrost
So I just called in to cancel the card and received a retention offer of 10k points to keep the card open. You guys think paying the $95 AF is worth 10k points?
Yes, probably more than the AF in most cases.

To give you an example, I will be staying at the Aloft Myeongdong in Seoul, SK that costs about $125, 7k SPG points, or 3.5k+$55 per night for a basic room. It's a brand new hotel that just opened this year in a prime downtown location. So 10k points is worth close to $150-200, more in other cases.
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Old May 2, 2017, 4:06 am
  #3152  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Paradise
Posts: 144
I bought a vacation package that includes a car rental from Alamo. The rental is completely paid for by the tour operator (including base price plus taxes and fees). Can I still use the AMEX premium rental insurance coverage if I swipe my card at Alamo? They have an optional $1.25 CO2 Offset charge (it's an add-on that's basically a donation to clean energy research) which I could charge to the card. Alternatively I can also upgrade to a full size for about $5-10/day. Will either of these charges activate the $20 rental insurance plan or do I need to pay for the full price of the rental with the AMEX to qualify?
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Old May 2, 2017, 7:40 pm
  #3153  
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Originally Posted by Twixboy
I bought a vacation package that includes a car rental from Alamo. The rental is completely paid for by the tour operator (including base price plus taxes and fees). Can I still use the AMEX premium rental insurance coverage if I swipe my card at Alamo? They have an optional $1.25 CO2 Offset charge (it's an add-on that's basically a donation to clean energy research) which I could charge to the card. Alternatively I can also upgrade to a full size for about $5-10/day. Will either of these charges activate the $20 rental insurance plan or do I need to pay for the full price of the rental with the AMEX to qualify?
If you didn't reserve the Alamo car using the SPG Amex, then you are out of luck. The T&C for that benefit states:
  1. To receive this benefit, you must both reserve and pay the full price of the rental with your Card.
That is pretty standard language for any type of travel insurance provided by a credit card.
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Old May 3, 2017, 1:54 am
  #3154  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Paradise
Posts: 144
Originally Posted by controller1
If you didn't reserve the Alamo car using the SPG Amex, then you are out of luck. The T&C for that benefit states:
  1. To receive this benefit, you must both reserve and pay the full price of the rental with your Card.
That is pretty standard language for any type of travel insurance provided by a credit card.
Thanks, I must've missed that when I read the T&C. Do you think my best bet is to use 3rd party insurance then? I see Travelguard is $9/day for rental car coverage.
EDIT - I'm getting off topic now, so I'll post this in a different forum.

Last edited by Twixboy; May 3, 2017 at 2:00 am
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Old May 3, 2017, 2:09 am
  #3155  
mia
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend; Moderator: American Express, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Credit Card Programs, Diners Club, Signatures
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
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Posts: 48,880
Originally Posted by controller1
...The T&C for that benefit states:....
I believe these terms are from the card's bundled secondary CDW benefit, while Twixboy is asking about the extra cost premium coverage described here:

https://feeservices.americanexpress....ofCoverage.pdf

Coverage is activated when the Cardmember
uses an Enrolled Card to pay the rental fee for
the Rental Car and the Cardmember signs the
rental agreement for that Rental Car

Coverage will not be activated if an American
Express Card that has been used to pay a rental
fee for the Rental Car is enrolled in the Plan after
the Cardmember or Authorized Driver Boards the
Rental Car for the first time. Coverage also will
not be activated if an Enrolled Card has not been
used to pay the rental fee, but is subsequently
used to pay for Damage to the Rental Car.
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Old May 3, 2017, 10:07 am
  #3156  
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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Posts: 6,177
Originally Posted by mia
I believe these terms are from the card's bundled secondary CDW benefit, while Twixboy is asking about the extra cost premium coverage described here:

https://feeservices.americanexpress....ofCoverage.pdf
You are correct. I missed that point! Thanks.
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Old May 3, 2017, 6:39 pm
  #3157  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Paradise
Posts: 144
Originally Posted by mia
I believe these terms are from the card's bundled secondary CDW benefit, while Twixboy is asking about the extra cost premium coverage described here:

https://feeservices.americanexpress....ofCoverage.pdf
That sounds more like what I read. It doesn't say I need to charge the entire cost of the rental, so my original question was whether or not I can charge a miscellaneous fee or upgrade on the card and still have the rental qualify for insurance coverage.

By the same token, can I use a free day coupon and charge the airport fees and taxes on my AMEX to trigger the $20 fee for the rental insurance coverage?
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Old May 6, 2017, 7:58 pm
  #3158  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 2,272
Originally Posted by Twixboy
That sounds more like what I read. It doesn't say I need to charge the entire cost of the rental, so my original question was whether or not I can charge a miscellaneous fee or upgrade on the card and still have the rental qualify for insurance coverage.

By the same token, can I use a free day coupon and charge the airport fees and taxes on my AMEX to trigger the $20 fee for the rental insurance coverage?
I'm not certain but I kind of recall reading that with the amex insurance (at least the insurance from the plat which may or may not be the same program as the spg) that if you had rented in the past using the card then award rentals can be covered as well.
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Old May 17, 2017, 1:52 pm
  #3159  
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: La Jolla, CA
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Not sure if this has been posted before, but it's the first time I've seen it:

From Marriott International's recent Security Analyst Meeting :

Marriott anticipates a renegotiation of terms for its branded credit cards, which could increase loyalty program contributions and reduce hotels' card-processing costs. The Marriott Rewards Visa through JPMorgan Chase agreement expires in 2018, while the SPG American Express card expires in 2020.
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Old Jun 9, 2017, 11:35 pm
  #3160  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 286
Is anyone having issues with posting delays for the bonus?

I have the Business card and met the spend for the first initial 25k. Amex is showing the correct points balance on the 'Starwood Points Earned YTD with this card" section, however my SPG account is not reflecting the bonus. Going on 5 days now since initial posting on Amex's side.
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Old Jun 10, 2017, 9:23 am
  #3161  
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: San Jose, CA USA
Programs: UA Platinum 2MM, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 631
Originally Posted by Dsm2m2
Is anyone having issues with posting delays for the bonus?

I have the Business card and met the spend for the first initial 25k. Amex is showing the correct points balance on the 'Starwood Points Earned YTD with this card" section, however my SPG account is not reflecting the bonus. Going on 5 days now since initial posting on Amex's side.
This happened to me too and after several calls, I realized AMEX opened a new Starwood account for me. I corrected this and then called Starwood and had them move the points from the "new" account into my "real" account. You can check this quickly as the AMEX website shows the last four digits of the starwood account they deposited the points into.
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Old Jun 12, 2017, 11:56 am
  #3162  
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Join Date: Jun 2015
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Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,819
Just got an email that the referral bonus has been bumped up to 7500 Starpoints per referral. They must be eager to lock in a bunch of new cardholders...
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Old Jun 12, 2017, 12:26 pm
  #3163  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: DEN
Programs: Hilton Diamond Hyatt Globalist Marriott Gold AA EXP
Posts: 989
I cancelled my SPG Biz card a couple weeks ago to avoid the AF. How long do I need to wait to re-apply for the same card with the AF waived for another year?
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Old Jun 12, 2017, 12:35 pm
  #3164  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: LHR
Programs: AA
Posts: 773
Originally Posted by Zorak
Just got an email that the referral bonus has been bumped up to 7500 Starpoints per referral. They must be eager to lock in a bunch of new cardholders...
I noticed this as well. Does anyone have any suspicions about whether this means anything long-term, based on similar behavior by past credit card partners of merging companies? It seems kind of odd to me.
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Old Jun 12, 2017, 7:11 pm
  #3165  
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 114
Amex Starwood referral bonus increased to 7,500 points

deleted

Last edited by anothertraveller12; Jun 13, 2017 at 11:58 pm
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