The short answer is no; I don't think they pull a credit report.

I requested another card with a BAC card and they asked for the same thing. I told them I wouldn't like to give them that information and they still were able to issue the card. They also asked for a telephone number which I didn't give them either. I believe they do this for security purposes.

SPG AMEX benefit really worth it? EXPEDIA cheaper?
 

Ooops, I think I better learn to express myself better. When I received my AMEX Platinum and called AMEX to activate, they have also called SPG (while I was with them) to create for me SPG Gold account.

I was thinking about SPG AMEX and AMEX Platinum and here is where I am at right now:

Until now, I was using Expedia to book rooms. I found it to be much cheaper than booking via spg.com . If I use AMEX SPG, I get 1 point for one dollar, so for every $50K used I would get 50,000 points.

I checked and free night in Moana Surfrider is 12,000 points. So, it means for 50,000 points I get 4 days for free, correct? Or am I missing something?

Expedia lists the same room for about $300 per night. So, 4 days is $1200.

If I use AMEX Platinum to make 50,000 in purchases, I get 50,000 MRP, this means 24,000 STARWOOD points, or 2 days for free at Moana Surfrider.

Given that for every $50,000 spent on Expedia, you get $1000 coupon, it is a helluva of a deal. So, clearly AMEX SPG is much much better off, isn't it?

However, it cannot be that simple, can it? What am I missing?

Actually, the fifth night is free with points, so you'd get five nights for 48k points.

My wife does have the business card and we found the referral landing page for the business card. It was not showing up when we clicked on refer for business, but just for the personal, but got it fixed. Thanks for your help.

Your arithmetic is sound, but your conclusion is imprecise. That is, the "worth" of points is highly variable. For example, TSMRSRNE is running in the Columbus (Ohio) Marathon, October 21. When I looked for downtown hotel rooms back in June, a room at the nearly-sold-out Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square was going for almost $500 the night before the race. Ouch! Instead, I spent 7000 SPG points and booked the room. (I was amazed the pirates at SPG were letting rooms go for points at all, much less a measly seven thousand.) Anyway, my point is that in your example, an SPG point is worth 2.5 cents,* which is fine. But in my case I'm getting about 7 cents per. So, SPG is wonderful, right? No. It's awful and I recommend everyone move with me to Marriott. :D

*I'm ignoring the fifth night free to simplify things.

Bonus SPG points post ahead of spend
 

corrected

Time flies by when waiting for Amex to post threshold bonus points. I posted the above on June 27th -- wondering when my threshold points would post. We are now at September 29th and my threshold points FINALLY posted -- 3 MONTHS LATER!!!!!! INSANITY! :mad::mad::mad:

Earn +15000 09/29/2012 SPG AX - GOODWILL FROM AX

Not only did it take this long to post, but it required a bit of an argument. First, I used the secure email service to inquire about the points. I was told that there was no record that I was even enrolled in the threshold bonus program. So, I sent a follow up email with a cut and paste of the promotion that I responded to - in my mind this was irrefutable proof that I was entitled to the threshold bonus. Apparently, the email customer service folk did not agree -- the response was again, "sorry, we have no record of you applying under this promotion".

I was livid -- so, I called their customer service number. The guy on the other end of the line was really nice. He apologized and made it sound like this happens a lot. He looked up the exact promotion code that was in effect at the time I applied for the card, sent an email to Amex's points department, and told me to give them 4-6 weeks. The result is shown above -- I guess they classified it as "Goodwill" because my account wasn't coded properly with the promotion.

Bottom line -- I finally got my points. For those that are in the middle of a similar saga -- do not give up!

They love using the term "goodwill." I just got it with some referral bonuses that I had to ask for.

Frankly, it really infuriates me. The term implies they are trying to be nice, but that they weren't obligated to give the points.

I have a question in regards to the extra point for use at a starwood property. The benefit is the following:

Watch your Starpoints take off
Get 1 Starpoint® for every dollar of eligible purchases.
Get more Starpoints for stays

Receive up to 5 Starpoints for every dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts participating in the SPG® program - that's 2 Starpoints per dollar spent on the Card in addition to the Starpoints you get as a Starwood Preferred Guest member.14

So last month - i spent $2178.00 on my card - and the day after my card closed - i got the followind in my acccount:



Earn

+2178

09/21/2012

SPG AX BASE SPEND - CONSUMER

However - $1112.00 of that was spent at Starwood propertied. I was expecting another bonus of 1112 points - am i correct? If so - do those usually post at the same time - as this was about 3 weeks ago when the original posted.

Thanks!

My SPG AMEX statement cut yesterday and had $1613 of regular charges with $278 of that being a Starwood Booking. I received the 1613 base spend points and 278 Starwood spend points that posted to my SPG account today. How do the other bonus points post for Gold and Platinum? - I called AMEX and they said it's on their end and they put a claim in for me.

SPG American Express [Master Thread]
 

Your 50% elite points post after your stay when your stay points post. It's effectively. 5 points a dollar at a Starwood when you are elite and have SPG Amex- 2 base + 1 elite + 2 points from SPG Amex = 5 points

Got an answer today that there was a techinical glitch with my bonus points for the SPG spend - and they will credit within 48 hours.

SPG Business AMEX - Elite stays/nights
 

Does anyone know how long it takes for the 2 elite stays/5 nights from the SPG Business AMEX to post to your SPG account? I've had the personal card for a while and my 2 stays/5 nights from there posted in the beginning of the year. I applied for the Business SPG card for the 30K offer around Sep 3, and my 10K initial purchase bonus points posted on 9/20 and I'm still working on the $5K minimum spend for the other 20K. There are no additional stays/nights posted to my SPG account yet for this card. Who would be responsible for fulfilling this? AMEX or SPG?

In trying to hit my spend requirement as quickly as possible, I discovered that Serve transactions don't earn any SPG points. Do they count as spend or not? They did post as purchases (as opposed to cash advances).

Also, by the same reasoning, if I were to purchase an Amex gift card, would that earn SPG points? If not, would that count for the spend requirement?

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