chazas

After the US/AA merger I already had given up much of a pretense of loyalty to AA - I'm lifetime plat, but my upgrade percentage using stickers went down to about 10% from 50% and the UA hub at IAD is much more convenient to me now than AA at DCA. I long ago had given up on an AA Citi credit card, using my SPG card to get airline points. I now basically fly whatever airline has the best schedule for me and if that's AA, UA or DL I don't care. If I can scrounge enough points for an upgrade, or pay a small fee at checkin, great. But it's not worth it to try to count on it any more.

I still stayed mostly loyal to SPG because of the fantastic credit card. During the past year with the ability to convert points earned on the Amex to MR points and on to UA as an additional alternative, it's been even better. But I am not traveling for leisure as much (particularly those planned-long-in-advance overseas front cabin trips where redemptions are really worthwhile) and have a huge stockpile of Starpoints built up, so I started shifting spend to a Citi DoubleCash for 2% back - cash is the most flexible rewards currency!

At the 1/3 SPG devaluation, I'm done. It's been a fun game for a long, long time, but it's not worth it any more to me. SPG Amex is getting switched out for an Amex Blue Cash Preferred for groceries at 6%. Citi AA Gold Mastercard is getting converted to a Citi Costco VISA card for 4% gas, 3% restaurants and travel and 2% Costco. The DoubleCash Mastercard is getting used everywhere else. I will stay at whatever hotel I like and pay for whatever room upgrades or services I want.

I feel free!

EuropeanPete

It's not really that clear a devaluation. It's impossible to make an authoritative statement about the entire portfolio from a sample by definition, but more hotels have gone down in points than up, and even counting the few properties which went up by a lot (most went down by a bit), it's a net devaluation of 3%, which given the sample size is within the margin of error.

chazas

Maybe, but that's all dependent on the actual final award chart. If you value credit card spend points for airline transfers, it's a clear devaluation.

TravelinSperry

Don't disagree re the award chart. And I don't expect a sig devaluation via it anyway... 5% for example. What has been announced however is the 33% earnings deval. That brings the earnings to under 2% (which makes it worse than 2% cb cards and now ties it with most other cards at ~1.8%). It used to be the hands down winner. Now, it's not. So now we are free to spend elsewhere. CSR and a variety of other cards suddenly make too much sense (especially when combined with their enrollment promos).

That said, I will keep the card... it's just no longer going to see all my everyday spend.

nobody2

Like many - big disappointment in the devaluation of earnings rate.

That said - trying to earn as many as possible in the current scheme - and starting to get tactical I see this question...

How about the earnings rate switch and statement dates? 2 scenarios I see:

1) all spend on the card prior to 8/1 gets converted at 3 points / spend after 2 points - regardless of statement dates
2) any statements that close prior to 8/1 get 3 points / statements that close after 8/1 get 2 points (which would include some charges in July)

Maybe I'm overthinking it - clearly #1 is what I would anticipate and expect - just dont want to be surprised.

ESpen36

Have we completely given up hope that AMEX might try to renegotiate the deal for the new luxury card between now and Aug 1 to give 3x points on non-bonus, non-category spend? Should we start writing letters?

rfrost

I've had the SPG Amex card a long time, even though for years my only spend on it was for my occasional stays at SPG hotels (Hyatt & Fairmont were my main hotel loyalty programs, but I also stayed at independent hotels and specific hotels in other chains that suited my purposes better). I'd accumulated a fair stash of miles usable in OneWorld & Star, which met my needs for the occasional F award to Europe, Southeast Asia or Japan, so was not particularly interested in airline transfers. But I did want to take a shower in the sky, and was planning to get to India sooner rather than later, so when AS overnight exponentially increased the miles needed for an EK F award, I found myself in real need of JL miles; the SPG Amex became my card of choice for non-bonus spend. (I did go to India and get a shower on the way home, as well as en route to and from the Maldives. While JL is a lot less attractive for EK F awards now, I nevertheless did another couple of transfers recently so that I can have one more roundtrip to that region.) But that party is coming to an end on August 1.
Accor has killed off the Fairmont program, and 60 nights at Hyatts does not fit my travel patterns, so I ended up at SPG. I've enjoyed it so far, am a bit skeptical about how things will be down the road, but intend to keep at it and see how things develop, so I want to keep one card for use at the hotels (but don't see a need for two). I picked up the old Marriott Rewards card a while back when Chase was about to impose its 5/24 rule for some of its co-branded cards. I used it for Marriott stays until they started giving bonus points for using the SPG Amex, too, but now it sits in my drawer. As between the MR and the SPG cards, I favor the Marriott, because of the potential to acquire extra nights' credit for spend (just in case I need it), and because a lot of my time (and money) is spent outside the US, and Visa's FOREX rates tend to be more favorable than Amex's. Next year I'll consider one of the new cards, but if the old MR card retains the extra nights for $3K spend feature, I'll probably just stay with that. But it will be used for hotel stays and little else.
For non-bonus spend after August 1, I still need to put some spend on my AAviator card (I don't love getting more AA miles, but I do love getting upgraded, so want to keep my EQDs up as well as keep EXP for another year) and then I think I'll look at Barclay. I am a big fan of the CSR, but travel so much that I don't feel I need to use it for non-bonus categories.

NeGourmand

I plan to use CSR/CIP for bonus categories (and occasional USB cash+) and Alliant 3% for everything else. Hitting SPG biz hard for now though.

digimon

8tracks

My everyday spend will likely fall into:
Restaurants & Groceries - Amex Hilton Ascend (6x @ 0.005 = 3%, Gold status=Breakfast & often lounge, AF=$95)
Gas & Travel - Citi Premier (3x @ 0.125 = 3.75%, Retention offer always offsets $95 AF)
Cell Phone, Internet, Cable/Satellite, Amazon GC from Staples - Chase Ink Biz + (5x @ 0.014 = 7%, AF=$95)
Other - Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5x @ 0.014 [UR xfer thru Ink Biz +] = 2.1%)

Question I have: Will I get traditional SPG points from Amex SPG spend through 7/31, or only until my statement closes in July?

Dzigavertov

Well, I am so bummed out about the devaluation. Been using this card for ages, almost exclusively, and the rewards were exactly what we were looking for. In fact, I consider it the worst part of the hotel merger, if this is one of the end results. I’d been holding my breath and then thought we dodged a bullet, until I got the letter from Amex a few days ago. Why?

My shattered Starwood dreams aside, what do you all recommend for someone who is primarily looking for nice hotel rewards? We almost only use the points to treat ourselves to nice international hotel locations every few years. I haven’t done airline transfers, mainly because the transfer to United wasn’t as good.

Marriott cc? Keep Spg? Hadn’t really heard of CSR until reading this, but while the travel perks are convenient, they aren’t essential for me since I don’t travel as much internationally. Are UR useful for hotel point transfers? I’d appreciate your input. I’d be willing to use a different hotel chain, though would be pretty disappointed about this whole affair.

Still smarting about the Costco Amex divorce, too, as we shop there more than anywhere else.

ckelly14

I travel almost exclusively for leisure and have been loyal to Starwood since 2001, so I don't have nearly the experience or expertise of most people here. I need two stays to lifetime SPG gold which will be completed before the account merger in August.

I have multiple Starwood credit cards (2 business, 1 personal) and used points exclusively for Starwood properties since I was generally getting a return of at least $0.02.

My wife flies for business (but not as much as she used to) on American and we have an American AAdvantage elite Executive card for lounge access, bags, etc

I am planning to keep my business cards as they are often used for gas/telephone charges/etc.

I am certainly getting rid of the current personal account since I already have Gold status, but I am considering “upgrading” to the Luxury card. I generally have enough spending to qualify for Platinum the next year and I can get rid of the American AAdvantage Executive card as I will have lounge access.

Opinions?

TravelinSperry

Look into the Hilton Aspire Amex... excellent earnings for spend Hilton and on Air, Car and Restaurants. Get 100,000 points for promo at enrollment. Enjoy Diamond level top tier status with card. And likely can get the af back by using their statement credits on Hilton resorts (up to $250) and air ($250)

Vulcan

If lounge access is important, this is the only option I have found that provides it without actually earning status at any of the Hotel programs the old fashioned way. I plan to go this route if I don't get LTP on August 1.

bgriff

UR points are useful for Hyatt stays in particular, but Hyatt is a small chain so you're not always guaranteed to have a hotel where you need it. As others have said, Hilton cards may be a good option if you want to earn points that can be used for a hotel anywhere, but unfortunately you don't earn free nights quite as fast as you would have with the SPG card.