SPG or Amex MR points from card spending?
 

I'm trying to figure out which card to do my primary spending and was hoping for the FT community input.

I've recently upgraded to Amex Platinum and got the SPG card with 30k bonus after 5k spend. With the Plat they gave me 25k MR points after first spend and another 25k after hitting $40k in 12 months.

My question is this: would you rather have the 40k SPG points for that same spend, or have 65k MR points?

Going with the assumption of the 65k MR points, after that bonus is hit, would you rather have 1 SPG point or 1 MR point per dollar spent?

I was using my PR Gold card before I upgraded to Plat and I figured out I earned about 25k bonus MR points from the multiplier categories over the last 12 months and just hit the 15k bonus for spending 30k in a calendar year.

For points purposes, as you seem to know, Plat is worse than PRG. Not sure why you switched if points are your motive.

SPG has the 5K bonus on airline transfer if done in 20K increments; i.e. 25K airline miles for 20K points. Also, SPG transfers to some airlines Amex does not. Finally, I think SPG has some good points-and-cash deals for hotel rooms.

I don't know the whole lists of transfer partners by memory, but I would say that:

a) SPG is better if you want hotel rooms
b) SPG is better for any SPG airline transfer partner for the 25% bonus on transfers.
c) Amex is sometimes better because of transfer bonuses, like 40% presently to BA, and sometimes to DL (although it's been a while for DL).
d) Amex will be better for partners that participate with Amex but not SPG.

Are you getting a 25K bonus from Amex every year for spending $40K? I"d never heard of that. In general I would say 65K MR is better than 40K SPG, but again, it will depend on what you want to use the points for.

Redtop43 gave a great breakdown and this final sentence says it best.

You really can't say which is better if you have no planned use for said points.

What would you want to use them for and that would dictate how to each program and their points.

The only way to do this analysis correctly is to look at two factors: (1) how many miles/points am I earning per dollar spent, and (2) how much do I value each point/mile.

To make it even more complicated, you need to ask yourself what the composition of the $40,000 you are likely to spend will be, and whether there are other better cards for you to get.

But assuming you're asking a straight question about these two cards, and you are only going to put $40,000 on one or the other, your equation is pretty simple: You can either get 1 SPG point per $1 or you can get 1.625 Amex per $1. (Assuming you are not planning to spend any of the $40k at SPG properties.) Now that you know that, all you need to decide is how much you value each point. I value SPG points around 2.4 cents per point and Amex around 1.6 cents per point. So, for me, each dollar spent on the Amex would yield me 2.6 cents in value (1.6x1.625). And each dollar spent on the SPG would yield me 2.4 cents in value.

Once your values are set, it's easy. My guess, though, is that much of that $40,000 spend is spending that would earn bonuses with other cards, which to me makes it much more difficult.

I think that if you find that SPG points are the cats meow, then you are better spending on the SPG card. While you can transfer your MR points to SPG, I believe you lose out on the transfer ratio (even with a transfer bonus).

Other considerations:

e) Membership Rewards transfer instantly to many partners including AC, BA, DL, VS. Starwood transfers typically take a week or longer. This means MR points can be transferred during the process of booking award flights, no risk of orphaned miles.

f) Membership Rewards (USA only) will advance 60,000 points to a Platinum Card holder, and allows a full year to repay them. They can be earned through spending, bonuses or opening additional card accounts.

g) Membership Rewards (USA) assesses a small fee on transfers to USA based airlines (B6, DL, HA, VX, only). SPG never charges.

h) Membership Rewards points never expire provided you hold at least one enrolled card. SPG does have a 12 month inactivity expiration policy discussed here.

This is turning into a very helpful thread.

(i) SPG can be transferred among members of the same household, with a five or so day delay. SPG cannot generally be transferred into someone else's frequent flier program.

(j) AMEX is basically the opposite. Members cannot pool their points but can generally transfer to another person's frequent flier account.

I am always amazed by the helpfulness of the FT community!

I upgraded to Plat for the travel benefits, in this instance the points-earning aspect wasn't as relevant.

The vast majority of the spending is for work (paying vendors) which wouldn't earn bonuses anyway. One of the perks of the company not having a strict use-the-corporate-card policy.

I actually haven't ever used the points that I've earned for myself: my airline miles I use for family or friends because I want to get the EQM when I fly. I just have the philosophy that earning some points for credit card spending is better than earning no points and I guess now I need to figure out where my priorities are for which points I want to earn.

Thank you!

I have lately come to appreciate this a lot. If you are someone for whom DL might be a good fit Amex can be really good. You can set up a reservation over the phone keep it on on a 1 day hold and then transfer the points in and ticket it online without paying the customer service fee. You save $25 and you do not invest in dreadful DL.

This ssomething I like with Chase Sapphire as well. Wish they would get more partners. I am still so bitter over the loss of CO as a transfer partner for Amex. Seriously devalued that program.

Another big benefit of the SPG transfers is when US Airways offers hotel bonus point transfers. The bonuses have been as high as 75%.

US Airways seems to do this once to twice a year.

It's a major issue with SPG. I've never understood why they can't do faster transfers. On the SPG board, the lurkers say it has to do with the "contracts," which I've never really understood, but they say it's an issue with the partners not SPG. I still don't understand why Chase and Amex seems to have little problem with automatic transfers but for SPG it's an issue.

That said, you do need to pay pretty careful attention to which partners are instant and which aren't with Amex. I've had a couple of redemptions recently with SQ and IB -- although if your IB account is set up and linked to BA you can do it quicker. That period where your seat is showing available but you're waiting for the transfer kind of stinks.

As pointed out above, it all depends on your valuation of the points. It appears that the MR points come out slightly better.

For me, it would depend upon how usable the points are. Since I live in a United hub city, MR points are not as valuable since UA is no longer a direct transfer partner with MR. I do use my Starwood points for redemptions and I have been able to get better than the stated minimums therefore, the Starwood would be my pick.

As to your second question, I'd prefer to have 1 SPG to 1 MR. Of course, it doesn't always work out to be equal. My PRG Amex gives 3x on airfare so I use it there instead of my SPG, for example.