Originally Posted by
highops
If you mostly plan to convert Starpoints to Delta miles you might be better off just using the Delta card. $20,000 * (1.25/$ - 1/$) gives 5000 miles. $65 (SPG fee) for 5000 miles may or may not be a winner with Delta depending on how you plan to use the miles.
SPG for hotels is hard to beat, however.
I'm in Detroit (DTW is Delta dominated) and switched to United/UR from Delta/MR because I could never find a domestic reward seat on Delta. So far I'm happy with the decision. Of course with United the number of direct flights to and from Detroit is more limited. (Shrug).
Only once have I transferred Starpoints to Delta and that was on a really good deal Skymiles wise on J tickets to Europe. Otherwise my redemptions have all been for hotels.
While I understand that Skymiles are generally poor value, I like having the option to transfer in the rare instances it makes sense.
Factoring in UR category and overall bonuses but not potential UR mall spend since that changes frequently I would have had:
31,000 UR points
vs
15,000 StarPoints
5,000 CapOne Points
I don't spend enough on the CapOne card for those points to really get me much. On the other hand, the UR hotel programs don't redeem as well as Starpoints (I almost choked on some of the Marriott reward costs I looked up).
You are a better man than I leaving Delta in Detroit. I just can't give up the non-stops.