eajusa

Having the SPG personal card already, I'm interested in whether Amex will offer a bonus for upgrading to the new luxury card or if they will just place an upgrade button on my personal Amex webpage as they have done with other cards in the past.
Of course I could apply for the new card, keep it a year, and then decide whether to renew it.

sdsearch

As someone else speculated in the thread specifically about thees offers (linked above), this could be to avoid confusion about which points are bonus points (current SPG points or Marriott points)? Chase won't have that issue, because it's issuing Marriott cards, where the type of points aren't changing (new program points are the same as current Marriott points). It's because Amex is issuing these as SPG cards, not as Marriott cards, that it likely chose to give a credit instead of bonus points because a credit is easy to explain but points which change completely in a few months are very hard to explain. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Amex's lawyers balked at giving bonus SPG points because it would hard to explain in "good legalese" what kind of bonus points these are / will be. (By the time someone earns bonus points on an SPG card applied now, the card may not longer earn SPG points, only new program points!)

So I bet Amex had only a few optoins: Suspend the cards now (the normal-AF personal card is going away anyhow, only the business card will continue), or offer no signup bonus at all, or offer a non-points signup bonus. The choices of a non-points signup bonus would have been perhaps a free night certificate or a statement credit. A free night certificate would require Marriott to sign on to that, while a statement credit Amex can decide on its own.

sdsearch

[Despite the fact that earlier today I cancelled it over the phone through the automated system, since my 1-year AF was being billed:]

I just got an email today from Amex titled:

sdsearch, We're updating your Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Card.

which says:

Beginning August 1, 2018, there will be a few updates to the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Card. We’re writing to help you understand what’s new, so you can keep getting the most out of your Card.

INTRODUCING NEW BENEFITS:

Get an Annual Free Night. Beginning with your first renewal on or after August 1, 2018, you will receive a Free Night Award that you can redeem for a one-night stay at participating SPG and Marriott Rewards properties with a redemption level at or under 35,000 points (additional mandatory resort fees may apply) every year of Card Membership.

Enjoy Complimentary Silver Elite Status.You’ll now receive complimentary Silver Elite status with your Card. This gives you access to enhanced benefits at participating SPG and Marriott hotels.

CHANGES TO STARPOINTS AND HOW YOU EARN POINTS WITH YOUR CARD:

Your Starpoints are becoming points. On August 1, 2018, the Starpoint balance in your loyalty member account will convert to points at a 1:3 ratio. Also, the number of points needed to redeem in the loyalty program will have corresponding changes.

Starting on August 1st, when you use your Card, you can earn: 6 points for each dollar of eligible purchases at participating SPG and Marriott Rewards hotels. NEW! 4 points for each dollar at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping., 2 points for each dollar on other eligible purchases.

ALSO, A FEW UPDATES TO YOUR EXISTING BENEFITS:

Earning Gold Elite Status.SPG Gold Status will now be called Gold Elite Status. Currently, you can earn Gold Elite Status after you spend $30,000 in eligible purchases on the Card in a calendar year. Starting January 1, 2019, you can earn Gold Elite Status after you spend $35,000 in eligible purchases on the Card in a calendar year.

Access to Sheraton Club Lounge. Starting on August 1, 2018, complimentary access to the Sheraton Club Lounge will no longer be available.

Credit Towards Elite Status.On January 1, 2019 you will no longer receive an annual credit for 5 nights and 2 stays toward SPG Elite status each year with your Card. But, the 5 nights and 2 stays you have earned this year will still count towards Elite status for 2018. We will also announce a new enhanced annual credit for nights towards Elite status. More details will be provided later this year.

krazykanuck

Awesome sauce! We're losing the 1 unique benefit we had over the Personal card, a 33% devaluation of points on non-bonus spend, and then a 33% increase over what we earn currently on restaurants, gas, and shipping. None of which matters to me because I have cards that earn better on restaurants and gas.

I'm just mostly pissed that those of us that have renewal dates between now and 7/31 will not get the anniversary night this year.

rrgg

surfmonkey89

So it looks like the new Amex Luxury Card gives access to Priority Pass lounges, but not Centurion? Is Centurion lounge access only available via Amex Platinum? Would love to get that, since there's one in my home airport.

christianj

surfmonkey89

Yea, I also wrote that without checking the MR -> Starwood point transfer rate, which is...not great.

As a Starwood Amex holder, I'm looking at the Luxury card as well as the Platinum, and trying to figure out which makes more sense. Right now, it looks like I'd be trading better point value, more access to great hotels, and great point transfer to airlines, for more luxury airport lounge access and a higher AF. Not sure that makes sense.

yugi

Their Chase Premier Plus card now earns 6x instead of 5x, and 2x instead of 1x. That's an enhancement on Marriott side, but they forgot to tell about SPG.

yugi

And the referrals are also gone.

javabytes

It's still garbage - 2 Marriott points/$1 on daily spend? Yes, the Premier card was an even bigger joke at 1 point/$1. They've grudgingly had to make a token change because of how uncompetitive their card's earning rates were relative to SPG, but none of this is really celebratory news. They're trying to keep the peace with an annual free night for the SPG card, but it's going to end up basically like the IHG card - worth keeping as long as you can use your free night, but not worth putting any spend on with the possible exception of hotel stays in the chain.

tmiw

My card just renewed a few days ago. I was going to pay the AF so that I can get the extra 3-6K SPG points from the offer I'm doing but now I'm wondering if I should try for a retention offer instead (or cancel the card entirely if I don't get one). Unless that 3-6K bonus for spending $3-6K email offer I got last month was effectively the retention offer, that is.

rrgg

Unless you're trying to reach a spending threshold, is it even worth putting any spending on any SPG/MR/RC card after August 1st except for Marriott/SPG/RC hotels? All of the bonus categories have better earning rates elsewhere.

t1c

I'm gonna wait and see what Chase does first before I make my decision...

mia

About what? I think the information is here:

http://credit-cards.marriott.com/en-...iott_US_MAR_EN