Canada still has referral bonuses I think. Amex US has removed all referral bonuses unfortunately and all affiliate/referral links are handled by creditcards.com

It is summer and haven't heard of any new cc lately. Waiting to see if 30k will be back this summer.

same here

Is the SPG a good card to pick up for someone who wants travel rewards, but rarely would have paid stays on their properties?

Yes.

1 SPG point can transfer to 1.25 miles on most select airlines when transferring 20,000+. SPG would prefer you redeemed on their properties, but the do offer this option. There are a few airlines where the transfer rate is not as good. These might be because of interfering credit card agreements (i.e. United Airlines) or because the FF program has a different valuation on miles, so it's a 'currency correction' and you need to check this first for your airline.

Look also at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...g-moments.html (FT discussion, this forum) for some interesting opportunities. You need SPG points to buy/bid on these. Not a direct travel benefit, but it could enhance a trip you already have happening.

The offer is 10K for signing up, then 15K points for completing a $5K spend in 6 months.

There have been changes over the past year, where an existing AMEX card holder might not get the 25K offer, but might only get the 10K sign up offer. Read the T&C's of the offer you get. Clearing cookies and keeping a copy of the sign up T&C's are never bad things to do for any offer for any credit card.

If you get the 25K offer, it's net 30K points once you've finished the $5K spend.

In the past, around this time of year, the offer has gone to 30K, 10K, + 20K more after spend for an extra 5K points when it's all over.

+1 on what Reft wrote. The other card you might want to take a look at is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Yep the CSP is the very next card on my list actually.

Yes definitely, with the 1.25 point transfer bonus as others have mentioned. However, if your travel involves Star Alliance, its not a good deal because the transfer ratio is poor. If that were the case, you should get the Chase United Explorer (1 UA Mile per dollar) or Chase United Club (1.5 UA mile per dollar).

Regards to the paid stay - I'm a platinum less than 5% of my stays are "fully paid." They're determined depending on the cost to benefit of using starpoints or paid stays. Most are C&P (devalued in Mar '13) or full reward redemptions (noticeably less these days). I rack up 6 figures of starpoints thru business purchases until I have enough... and then the rest of them go onto my Chase United cards.

So you need to figure out how to balance it... but if you don't do hotel stays all that much you can always pick it up for the bonus because IMO... having miles in Mileageplus is better than transferring to many airlines on SPG's transfer list (depending on how you travel).

Just saw an ad for 30k starpoints ends Sept. 3rd.

Any recent experiences on how long it takes for the stays/nights to post for a new application, once approved?

Mine took about 5 or 6 days after opening my SPG card 2 weeks ago.

Thanks - I also opened mine 2 weeks ago, and had my first purchase 10 days ago. No stays/nights nor 10K points (though I know the latter can take 8-12 weeks). Will give them another week or two before I ping them.

Wasn't paying attention to my spend and I went over the min spend on some air tickets that I plan on cancelling. Think they'd care? It's a decent amount, but I'll be making it up in about two months.

If I cancel the Starwood card, will the night credit disappear (already credited)?

I doubt it. My DW canceled her personal SPG Amex back in March, and the stay/night credits are still showing in her SPG account.