SPG American Express [Master Thread]
 

My wife and I love our Starwood AMEX cards and believe they are great values. But like many people, I want it all. We have recently been charged our $30 annual fees. On other cards I have had success in calling customrer support and asking for renewal points/miles. I tried this approach with no success calling 1-800-AXP-1000. I'm looking for any success stories of people getting bonus starpoints or getting their $30 annual fee waived.

I suspect that there is a thread on this somewhere, but I could not find it. Any pointers would be appreciated.

I consistently use the 50% off award in certain places where my company would have me staying at another hotel for less money than a Starwood property. I suppose it all depends on which hotels you try to use them at. They work great for me.

As a person who holds *Wood Amex, AA Citibank Platinum MC, and AA Citibank Debit cards, I have no problem with the *Wood fee. Citibank reams me on both of their cards. I tried dumping the AA MC last year, but they gave me 10k AA miles to keep it (we'll see what happens this year). The *Wood card is half of the others, and 1 *Point/$ is better than 1 AA Mile/$.

It's the best value of any Point/Mile affinity card, IMO.

Yeah, I agree. This is one of the few threads that routinely appears that really makes me a little mad. This is a most reasonable expense per annum. AMEX, like any other business, generally does not like to see consumers walking out the door, so they may bend a little if they think a good customer is about to walk on them by issuing a "one time" credit or good faith point transfer, etc.

However, I put this in the same category as the folks I have seen in Sheratons this year trying to squeeze points or $$$s out of the front desk clerks using the Sheraton promise. In one case, the complaint was a light bulb that burned out after the guests checked in -- now, I ask you, was that guest R E A L L Y entitled to the 2000 Starpoints he got? I think not. Nevertheless, his rude manner and persistence won him 2000 points. I was disgusted -- he only pushed the point since he knew he stood a good shot at getting something for nothing.

SPG AMEX holders know full well that the annual fee is what it is -- quite low and offers a tremendous payoff for most of us. Just please leave it at that.

I'm stepping down off the soapbox now ........ :(

Ready2Go, this isn't aimed at you...just my general rant on the topic...

A fee-free *wood card would hardly be a 'burden' for AMEX. AMEX is only charging the annual fee because they know people will pay it. It's all about consumer perception. $30 really is a good value in comparison to other fee-based cards.
There are (and always will be) plenty of financially inept persons paying exorbitant finance charges to keep AMEX's ivory towers shining without my 30 bucks in the kitty.

...end of rant... :)

Yes, but ........

The contract that SPG AMEX holders enter into when we enrolled very clearly spells out the terms -- including the annual fee. This is not some submersively added fee that sneaks up on us as cardholders. In other words, the annual fee is made quite clear up front and most of us can agree that this particular fee is most reasonable.

That's my only point. I have to scratch my head at folks who will post on FT how much they love the SPG AMEX card and how, in their opinions, it is hands down the very best affinity card on the planet, and that even though they are happy to pay the $30 fee, they are just hoping to find someway to avoid it.

Are these the same folks who listen to public radio and hope that everyone else will make a contribution since they don't? Are these the folks that throw a dollar bill into the offering plate at church? Are these the folks that always make sure that when they split the dinner tab with several friends that they come out just a little ahead by making sure the others put in the extra dollar when one is needed?

Arrgh... :(

Yes, but ....

it is only because of this built in profit margin that the SPG AMEX card can be so good.

If AMEX charged 0.07% and had no annual fee, my friends, the SPG AMEX (if one existed at all) would look very different. Something more like what my crappy HiltonHonors MasterCard looks like -- takes me a year to get one night at the lowest level Hampton Inn around...... :(

For the sake of argument though, why would anyone keep the SPG AMEX card and pay a $30 annual fee when they could just cancel and reapply a couple months later with a first year fee waiver and new sign-up bonus of up to 10,000 points?

I recently canceled my SPG AMEX account not because of the annual fee but because of AMEX's refusal to ever target me for double points promos.

Incidentally, I did try to see if they were willing to throw some SPG points my way to get me to keep the card (mostly as a test because I really did want to cancel, barring a really rich offer) and they offered absolutely nothing.

Herb687 --

I don't see any issue with this at all. There is no agreeing to a plan and then midstream complaining about what you agreed to. If AMEX allows the above to transpire for consumers, then that's AMEX's decision. Can anyone out there confirm that AMEX has indeed allowed customers to cancel and reapply weeks or short months later? Interesting....

I agree with you, and I am not arguing that AMEX should lower that charge.
My point was a credit of $30 is not affecting AMEX bottom line at all. They are not making their money off this $30.

Wow, I'm surprised that they allow this. The terms and conditions actually address the bonus for stays during the first year.

"3. Your stay bonus eligibility starts from the date that you receive your Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. Only first-time Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Cardmembers are eligible for stay bonuses. Stay bonuses will post to your Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Cardmembership account 4-6 weeks after qualifying stays are charged to the Card. "

I am really grateful for the starwood card. If it wasn't for flyertalk I'd still have my amex gold paying $75.00/year and $40/year for membership rewards with a selection of only a few airlines. I got my spg card last year and got out of membership rewards in December when they had a 15% promotion to transfer miles to Delta. It was all perfect timing. Then MR started charging for transfers of miles this march. I mean isn't $40.00 enough?

I am so glad to be out of that program. For me $30/year is such a great value I can't believe it. and all the choices of airlines! It is so much easier to accumulate miles on this program than on MR. I love it!

$30 is a bargain for this card given the value of an SPG point--assuming Starwood doesn't feel it time to once again "enhance" their point levels. However, I still get a little miffed that AmEx does not charge an annual fee for their HHonors card, but feels as though they have to for the Starwood card. My guess is that their HHonors card cas to compete with the Citibank HHonors card that does not carry a fee. Yes, I know that you earn an additional point with the AmEx card, but acceptance of AmEx over Mastercard is also an issue.

$30 or 3000 Starpoints?
 

I called Amex today because my renewal was up. I said that I noticed a $30 fee on my stmt and that I'd like a) the fee waived or b) a *point renewal bonus instead. The Indian rep explained that such things were simply beyond the reach of the living, at which point I suggested that I'd like to cancel my card.

A few phone transfer beeps later I was connected to Shawn who I gladly re-explained again my predicament. I mentioned that there are simply too many fee-free based reward cards out to be accepting a $30 charge and re-iterated that *points in lieu of $30 are acceptable.

He offered without hestitation to either waive the fee or give me 3000 points. I took the points. He turned on the recorder and reiterated the offer after which we parted cordially.

This is my first renewal and I charge about $2.2k monthly. I do not know if either had an impact.

I did not but could have pressed further as I was actually ready to cancel the card.

To add a more current experience:

I called and asked to have the fee removed from this month's bill and was told a definite no. I then tried to encourage a point offer by saying that "I would therefore like to cancel the card". Well, instead of a point offer, the CSR gave me the fastest and easiest credit card cancellation that the world has ever seen! No kidding, in under 30 seconds my card was cancelled and the CSR was saying "Have a nice day!"

It's just my luck, every other credit card that I have tried to cancel in my life turned into an hour long struggle of convincing a dozen people that I really didn't want the card anymore, and then the one time I don't really want to cancel is the one time that they don't give me any hassle!

Oh well, I'll wait a few months and then apply for a new one. Maybe I'll even get another sign-up bonus.

No, the SPG account lives on.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

I know I commented about this somewhere else...I think there are a couple of "Should I haggle the $30 fee?" threads. :)

My take is that negotiating the annual fee on a credit card is perfectly fair game. The fact that banks sometimes waive it when asked means that they do too. So I don't believe it's immoral or unethical to pursue the waiver. You will call and ask. They may accept, make a counteroffer, or say no and ask you whether you'd like to keep the account active. Normal business.

That said, I've never called on the SPG Amex. In the grand scheme of things - the incremental annual value I get from the card over the 2nd best credit card on the market - the $30 is a tiny fraction really not worth getting upset about. It is not worth the time and hassle of making phone calls, waiting on hold, getting transferred to the "retention department", playing the game, pretending I'm really chapped and ready to cancel, etc.

If you enjoy this kind of thing - and I know some people consider negotiating for stuff, even little stuff, a bit of a hobby - by all means go for it and don't sweat whether it's "right" or "wrong". If the banks felt it were wrong, they'd shut it down tomorrow and never waive an annual fee again.

I had them waive the fee for a couple of years. Average about 10k a month. Then we switched cards and used it for home. They offered to give us the Delta or Hilton card that have no fee, and they cancelled the SPG card just as fast.

FWIW, I called last month and simply asked if there was anything they could do about the annual fee. The rep put me on hold for a second, came back, and offered me a $25 credit on my card. I accepted. I have to admit, I was somewhat surprised. For reference, I have a couple other AMEX cards with annual fees (personal Plat and business Gold).

Best card I have ever had without doubt. Great service. Worth every penny.

Only glad they haven't RAISED the price.

SPG Referral bonus point offer
 

Yesterday, I recieved a mailing from AMEX/SPG offering a 5K point bonus for each referral to the SPG Amex card, aimed at getting me to ask friends and family to sign up. Its 5K points per referral, up to a max of 20,000 points. I believe the referral period ran till the end of January '07. Anyone else get this offer?

This came just in time as my wife was going to apply for her own card anyway. ^ This just made the deal sweeter, 10K points for her and now 5K for me. Thanks AMEX/SPG. :D

I don't have the mailing in front of me at the moment, but there were four detachable RSVP cards that you were to hand out, which needed to be filled out by the applicant and then mailed in. There were some specific referral and/or ID codes printed on each RSVP card. I'm not sure if you could do this online, but I'll check the mailing when I'm home later and let you know. In the mean-time, maybe somebody else got the same thing and knows for sure.

I called about a month ago and there was no referral offer then. :td:

Hopefully my brother didn't apply for his already.

Thanks for letting us know about the URL not working. American Express is addressing this issue and it should be up and running by midnight.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

It's actually
http://www.americanexpress.com/spgfriend
no S at the end

sent you a pm with the code, anyone else need the code, please pm me.

Note, it did state on the offer that the 10,000 first use is for first-time cardmembers only, please see americanexpress.com/spgfriends for t&c.

Looks like the Marketing Department is getting ahead of the IT. :confused:

sadly, thats often the case. Oh and then they go and blame THE CUSTOMERS for "not using the promotions as they had been intended" or something stupid like that. All i got was:

The page cannot be found
The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please try the following:

If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Open the www.americanexpress.com home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
Click the Back button to try another link.
Click Search to look for information on the Internet.



HTTP 404 - File not found
Internet Explorer

It worked for me if spelled correctly

you need to put www.americanexpress.com/spgfriends

hahahah so much for trusting links!
ty

and of course it worked! (didnt see where they ask for WHO referred you tho in the online app, but at least now they added the bal transfer thing, which was not there before)

it's a typo, no S
www.americanexpress.com/spgfriend

Seems fairly specific to Starwood Preferred Guest, so I'll move it to the SPG forum.

Regards,
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz moderator

Two cardmember point acrual...
 

If you and your wife both apply and carry your own SPG Amex, can they both acrue points deposited to the same account (let's say yours), or do they acrue to separate accounts and being at the same address, you just transfer them accordingly?

Cheers,

Adrian

I believe it's targeted ... Mrs. USAFAN got the card, I not.

And yes, there is a typo on the card the correct link is

www.americanexpress.com/spgfriend

..no "s" on the end, as pointed out by palex

Thanks for the link. I don't get it yet can you help me? I went to the link but there is no place to enter the referal code that I was given. Does anyone know how I will get credit for the referal?
Josh

The latter. Fortunately, Starwood makes it easy to move points from one account to another when you have the same physical address.

William, can you confirm for us whether this offer is targeted or not? I have a few people I'd like to refer, but I don't know whether I'm not targeted or if I just haven't received the mailing yet (I usually get mailed offers a week or more after they're first mentioned on flyertalk).

I didn't get anything I have referred 6 new successful SPG AMEX (business and personal) applications/cards within the past 2-4 weeks.

Where do you enter the info of the person that referred you? I don't see it on the application form.

Thanks.