Originally Posted by mia
<<more valuable: 1 Starpoint = 3 MR points>>
This appears to be a artificial value assigned to prevent people from using an American Express Membership Rewards card to accumulate large amounts of SPG points. This is necessary to prevent combining the Membership Rewards "double points for everyday purchases" feature with Starwood's 5,000 point bonus for airline transfers. A Starpoint is certainly not worth three times as much as a MR point when redeemed for airline miles.
dennis
I do think SPG points are more valuable in a lot of cases than airline points. The poster says they don't do a lot of overseas travel and visit kid friendly destinations. If that's a normal travel pattern, the SPG card is a no brainer.
We've got a similiar family and I can point to a spring break trip to Disneyworld that illustrates the math beautifully.
Had we been using points for airline miles and paid for the hotel, the trip would have broken down as such:
4 domestic tickets 100,000 points (25,000 X 4) if they're available
3 nights at Disneyworld Swan Hotel $289 x 3 = $867
Instead, we purchased the airline tickets and used SPG points for the hotel.
4 domestic tickets approx. $900
3 nights in hotel 30,000 points (10,000 X 3)
The total cost worked out almost to the penny in terms of cash outlay, but we saved 70,000 points by using SPG points for the hotel.
I should point out that Starwood's no blackout dates policy is huge as well. We do a lot of family vacations during the kid's spring break in March each year. The fact that you can use points as long as there's a room available is a big benefit.
Has anyone out there tried redeeming airline miles at the 25,000 point level at peak times like spring break? It's almost impossible on Delta and Continental.