tylorcl

Any way to get $120 annual fee waived?

Braindrain

True, but that's a one-time offer.

mitsou_jpn

Just got an email showing the same info. $120 annual fee is a bit more than I expected, considering the previous card has no annual fee.

onebagtraveller

Wow, 120 is a lot (compared to the US card) - and the category restriction isn't nice either...

Fee waived for the first year would have been nice too...maybe they'll waive it for renewals - lol

Robbo1

It looks like more details have been announced:

http://www.spgpromos.com/canada_cred...da_creditcard2

It’s almost here! The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.

The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express will be available in just a few weeks,1 for Canadian SPG® members. The new Card provides exciting new benefits, including an accelerated points-earning feature allowing you to earn free nights faster than ever before. Here are some of the details:
Receive 10,000 bonus Starpoints® — enough for up to three free nights2
Earn 1 Starpoint for every CDN$1 in purchases charged to the Card3 — that's in addition to the Starpoints you already earn at Starwood Preferred Guest hotels as an SPG member
Enjoy a Free Weekend Night Award after you spend CDN$40,000 on the Card annually4
Earn Gold Preferred Guest status after you spend CDN$30,000 on the Card annually5
CDN$120 annual fee*
In addition to these incredible benefits, Cardmembers will be able to take advantage of all the rich benefits of SPG. Starpoints can be redeemed for free nights with no blackout dates at more than 940 hotels and resorts in more than 93 countries around the world. And with SPG Flights, you can redeem Starpoints for airline tickets on more than 350 airlines, also with no blackout dates. Please provide us with your email address or visit SPG.com in the new few weeks so you can be among the first to apply for the Card.

Current Starwood Preferred Guest® MasterCard® from MBNA Cardmembers, please review our FAQ for details on the SPG Credit Card transition.

greenlotus

I'm a little dissapointed aobut the $120 annual fee also. Just a few weeks ago I got the Aeroplan AMEX because of the 20,000 aeroplan welcome bonus. I was definitely going to get this card when it came out. Now I will have to re-evaluate my decision.

ciana

Just for interest.. I returned last Sat from 3 weeks travelling on holiday in Australia. At all the hotels we stayed at there was a surcharge for using your credit card to pay the bill! It was 1-1.5% if you used a visa or mastercard but 3% for AMEX. We stayed at various locations.. 5 flights and at chain hotels, stand-alones and small inns. It was the same at all of them..maybe this was an all over Australia thing..don't know.. but we paid it. Needless to say I never used my AMEX card.

superdawg

$120 may seem high to the U.S. cardholders or previous MBNA SPG cardholders but it is right inline with pretty much every other card in Canada that offers similar rewards or benefits.

airbus320

I will take a pass on this offer.

Kerlo

This is pretty much the reason why i do not have any other rewards cards of this type.

Why do I have to force myself to make a certain amount of purchases each year before it becomes even remotely worthwhile? IMO the old card was a much, much better deal and more widely accepted.

countmookle

At $120/year - meaning at least the first $6000 or so in purchases is a wash - this likely now joins the ranks of other overpriced credit cards in which I am not interested.

The decision is even easier for me (as it may well be for others with TD Select Service accounts) given that a TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card is free.

platSPGmember

that 120 dollar fee for the new amex!!! wow what is starwood thinking,,,it's not a privelige to stay at starwood hotels.
The MBNA starwood mastercard I had didn't carry a yearly fee,,Being a platinum member I guess I'll start staying at other chains Marriott, Hilton etc going forward. Suggest you complain to starwood on the yearly fee to see if they'll drop the fee. They'll learn the hard way once they start seeing a decline in vacancy rates at their hotels

platSPGmember

Not sure I agree with the comment that it's inline with other fees on other credit cards,,,so just because other credit cards charge high fees it's okay to simply accept the norm??
Not to mention it's an Amex,,,Amex for those who may not be aware is hard to use in different parts of the world. I had an Amex years ago and found that in about 50% of the time vendors didn't accept the card. Visa and Mastercard take a 3-4% premium from a vendor, Amex takes 7-8%. Now you know why vendors don't bother with Amex your screwing the vendor everytime you use the card

platSPGmember

Kerlo, message wasn't directed at you but directed at superdawg,,sorry
Not sure I agree with the comment that it's inline with other fees on other credit cards,,,so just because other credit cards charge high fees it's okay to simply accept the norm??
Not to mention it's an Amex,,,Amex for those who may not be aware is hard to use in different parts of the world. I had an Amex years ago and found that in about 50% of the time vendors didn't accept the card. Visa and Mastercard take a 3-4% premium from a vendor, Amex takes 7-8%. Now you know why vendors don't bother with Amex your screwing the vendor everytime you use the card

bizaro86

I also recently got the aeroplan amex gold, mainly for the 20,000 sign up bonus.

Does anyone know Amex's policy on changing cards? I'd like to switch to the SPG Amex from the aeroplan Amex, to avoid an extra hit on my credit report and an extra $120 fee. Would I still get the SPG sign up bonus?

Michael