Originally Posted by
Starwood Lurker
Yes. The vendor who does this does not accept international credit cards. The last I heard, they were working on several agreements that would open it up beyond U. S. credit cards, but until they do, it is what it is.
So technically the offer is NOT limited to US members. It is limited as follows: "You may use any valid American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or Diners Club card that has a billing address in the 50 U.S., Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands."
If you can get a card with such a billing address, then you can purchase points. I'm sure that there are a number of ways to accomplish this -- especially with reloadable pre-paid credit cards.
And if you know and trust someone else with such a credit card, then you can have someone else purchase Starpoints as a "gift" to you.
I guess couples are now limited to 200K points. 100K per person which can then be transfered between accounts as needed. So 200K Starpoints for $7000 -- enought to get 12 nights (two 5th Night Free + two regular nights) at a Cat6 for an average of $583. Actually not a bad price compared to the $895 BAR (+ 10% taxes) that I saw for W Maldives.
This got me a little intrigued, so I calculated these out. If you were to buy points for a Fifth Night Free award with the $35/1000 points rate, here are the costs. Many may be quite favorable for certain properties on certain dates:
Cat3
28,000 = $980 ($196/nt)
Cat4
40,000 = $1400 ($280/nt)
Cat5
Off-Peak 48,000 = $1680 ($336/nt)
Peak 64,000 = $2240 ($448/nt) (Worth considering: St Regis Aspen in early March)
Cat6
Off-Peak 80,000 = $2800 ($560/nt)
Peak 100,000 = $3500 ($700/nt)