Originally Posted by
sdsearch
For example, the Amex SPG card only gets you 10K points (10K to 12K miles) "easy" and then only an addtional 15k points (for a total of 25k to 30k miles) with a high spend within a few months.
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Compared to that, SPG is one-time 10k to 25k points bonus, and that's it. Ever. The one advantage of SPG, beyond the bonus, is that it has a 20% transfer bonus for transferring to AA and DL.
While your post was generally sound, I feel compelled to point out two significant errors.
First, SPG is
not a one-time bonus. The "first purchase" part -- currently 10K, as noted -- may or may not be a one-time bonus, depending on the length of time between applications. (I've gotten it more than once, and FT lore holds that a 2-year hiatus is enough to allow the churn.) That said, the "additional spend" bonus absolutely
is not a once-off; you can earn it as many times as you sign up for the card, as I've confirmed in the past few years. (There's also typically a 5K or 10K referral bonus, which is a good option for tag-teaming by spouses/partners.)
Second, the SPG bonus for all airlines -- not just AA and DL, but also US & assorted others -- except UACO is 25% (for a 20K transfer), not 20%.