FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Best hotel program for credit card spending?
Old Aug 22, 2011 | 5:50 pm
  #31  
sdsearch
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Originally Posted by factory81
So I am thinking of signing up for this card even if I only get 10k + 5k referral than I have 15k points, which is worth $400-500 if you think of it as 5 3000 point Cat 2 stays.
This card is from AMEX (the bank, not just the logo). So beware: AMEX remembers what cards you had forever, so it can be the most impossible of all banks to churn. And the SPG AMEX has in the past had offers where you got the full 25k bonus with much more achievable spend (than the current offer has for the 20k part of the bonus). So if I were you, unless you desperately need those 10k + 5k SPG points now, I would wait (if you don't you're very likely to meet the spend bonus) until this offer goes away very soon, to see what the next offer will be. It's not likely to be any worse (for those who can't do the full spend for the full bonus), given that the previous 25k offer also gave you 10k after just one purchase.

Regarding the Priority Club card, you left out that it has 0% forex fees. That alone could make the card worthwhile to have in your wallet, if you don't already have another 0% forex card, if you travel outside the US. (The SPG Amex is definitely not a 0% forex card!)

If you care more about the quality of the hotels than about the number of hotels in the world, you could also consider the Hyatt card if you want a non-Priority-Club hotel card for 0% forex. But Hyatt has extremely few properties compared to either SPG, or Priority Club, or Marriott, or Hilton. So if you're going to go down that path, look at the list of cities that Hyatt is in and see if it's enough for you.
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