SPG allows a max of 20k point bought or received in one year so unless the person is just charging their own card on paypal or square and paying the transaction fees, I don't see any other way

My bad. SPG sells at promo price 2.8 cpm at certain points in the year up to 25? Something around that amount. Household transfer free. Go make accounts for your kids, relatives, whatever. Anyone who has a legit reason. Buy points, transfer to your account, transfer to AA. You can get at least 60 -> 75k AA. Plus 60k AA that's 135k AA, enough for what OP's situation earlier.

20k limit per year.

Close enough. Just make more accounts.

You cant..its 20k limit to buy or to receive, meaning the maximum you can buy in an account direct or indirect is only 20k, no matter where it came from.

Where does it say that?

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefe...nsferForm.html

We are talking about two different things here. I am talking about purchasing points for yourself or for someone else (which is sold via points.com) .There is a limit to that (20k per year).

You are talking about point transfer from one spg account to another. If you already have points in your SPG account, you can transfer to another account with the same address (there is no limit on that transfer).

The discussion was about buying points

I guess technically you could open up a dozen fictitious accounts (buy a maximum of 20k in each) and then u can transfer everything in one account. That would be a pain not to mention account potentially getting shut down. But I don't see how you can buy unlimited points on star wood (as someone mentioned earlier). Say I want to buy 500k points for 4 first class tickets internationally, that means I have to open up 25 accounts, get 20k in each account and then transfer to one account...sounds kinda ridiculous

May I buy more than 20,000 Starpoints per year?

Your account may receive up to a maximum of 20,000 Starpoints per account per calendar year, whether purchased by yourself or received as a gift from another member. However, you may purchase as a gift for other accounts, as many Starpoints as desired. Each gift recipient can receive up to 20,000 Starpoints per calendar year.


from:

https://buy.points.com/marketing/spg...emplate.html#7

I value miles by my lady's smile when I tell her we've scored an upgrade.

Having just endured a R/T to Florida in steerage, not even a VIP lounge in CLT that takes Priority Pass, I value an upgrade more precious than pearls.

Yeah, I understand that.

But, for purposes of this thread, you don't really value an upgrade as more precious than pearls -- at least in the sense that if I offered you $10,000 in pearls instead of an upgrade, you'd take it every time. You could sell the pearls, buy a first class ticket, and keep the change. I think the question in the thead is how to find that value where you'd be indifferent between taking the points and taking the pearls.

Yes I understand where you're getting at. But if I look at the end result, I have unlimited airline miles at 2.4 cpm. I'm assuming that the time and effort you're spending is negligible (If you have multiple real people in your household).

Hi!

How does it compare for travel/foreign exchange?

Opotion A:
Spend money with debit card with 0% forex fees.

Option B:
Spend with German AMEX card, 2% forex fees, get Membership Rewards points.

Which option worths more? That is the basic question.

Calculating Redemption Value

$700 flight or 40,000 miles

700/40,000 = 0.0175 cents/mile

But, how can I determine if that is a good valuation for those miles?

I know this changes depending on where the points came from (SPG vs UR vs airline mile)

So, my question is, how can I determine that valuation for different programs? How can I calculate what an AA mile is worth vs a UA mile vs a SPG point when burning them on a redemption?

How does this change when I do a "cash & point" redemption?

I've found the following valuations with no explanation as to why these points are valued as such.:

MR = $.020 / point
UR = $.019 / point
AA = $.015 / mile
DL = $.010 / mile
US = $.016 / mile
HH = $.007 / point
PC = $.006 /point
SPG =$.025 / point
Hyatt = $.015 / point

And let me also ask if I am using these correctly.

I redeemed a 145k AXON reward
Per the above valuation = $1,015.

I booked 4 nights at the conrad maldives, which would have cost $5,492, giving me a redemption value of $.0378 / point.

Are my calculations correct?

That's why you see so many arguments over what points are worth, yada, yada, yada...

In the end, your points and miles are worth whatever you redeem them for. There is no magic price you need to hit. Some people have one in their head based on their experiences, if you read the blogs you will see that "View from the Wing" "One mile at a time" "Mile Value" and other blogs all come up with their own valuations for different airlines and hotels. Go where you want to go, do what you want to do, and don't worry if someone got more "retail value" from their points.

There is no "correct valuation". Everyone has their own algorithms.

Well, what are these algorithms so I can determine my own valuation?