pinniped

I suppose that could be true if you regularly need a very high limit. In practice, SPG Amex isn't "throttling" me with a low limit. Both my SPG Amex and HH Amex have pretty high limits - far higher than I ever actually charge in a given month. (I do about $60k per year on the SPG Amex.)

mia

This seems to be an empirical question. Apply for the SPG card and see what credit limit they give you versus your requirements. The fee for the SPG card is so low that there isn't really a need to choose, its straightforward to use both.

FWIW, the Platinum charge card is not the best card for Membership Rewards earnings. It does earn double points for "everyday" spending, but nothing extra for airlines or hotels -AND- Amex typically excludes it from promotions.

dennis

best

The more common times it makes sense to go with MR:
1-There is a specific promo of value: ie: new Green card last fall giving 45,000 MR points;

2-There is a very specific item on their list for redemtion that you want;

3-If one does not know better.

plj496

Just to make sure: for a business card, SPG is not an option, right?
The best business card seems to be the amex 'Business membership Rewards Card' : $75 annual fee, but 2 add'l cards fee-free (not sure if the two add'l cards get their own MR accts, though?)
This seems to be the _real_ MR, not the MR-Options that only gives 2-1 ratio for pts to miles.

stevens397

Mia has it right. I have a Centurion Card but use it for much, much less each month than my Starwood AMEX. The SPG points are simply much, much more valuable. I used them for 13 nights of vacation last summer ( New Orleans, Mont Tremblant and Princeville) and it cost a total of 90,000 points. The best rates available for those hotels for the nights I was there totalled over $5,000 - or well over 5 cents per point. That doesn't count the value of the upgrades I got.

This summer I'm going to Paris and was able to use my Starwood AMEX points to transfer to Asia Miles from Cathay Pacific airlines. 90,000 Asia Miles got me First Class to Paris on their partner, British Airways. Business Class on Continental (that I would have used from my AMEX MR points) would have been 200,000 points per person.

There is no comparison in terms of value. And as Mia said, with the SPG AMEX being free for year one and $30 per year after that, what's to think about?!

TimMeineke

I did this analysis a few years ago and it came out hands-down the SPG card (back then it was still called the Sheraton card). This is especially true if you travel overseas, as the ratio of $ of hotel cost per point is much higher (i.e. a hotel room that costs you $250 in Morocco might require 4,000 points per night, whereas in the US it would cost you 10,000). Despite the fact that Starwood has raised the points for a free night in many locations (10,000 for the Sheraton Manhattan is almost unthinkable), the fact that there are no blackout dates makes this a clear winner.

mia

Looking only at the number of points required for an award is incomplete. A fair comparison requires calculating the amount charged to the card to generate those points.

Two transatlantic first class tickets from the eastern US requires 180,000 Asia Miles. This means charging $145,000 on the SPG card. In 2005 we charged only $70,000 on a Gold Rewards Plus card but earned more than 160,000 Membership Rewards points, enough for two transatlantic Upper Class tickets on Virgin Atlantic.

We could debate the merits of BA or AA First Class versus VS Upper Class, and adjust for the fact that VS has now raised their Upper Class redemption level, but my point is only to illustrate that Membership Rewards can provide superior value depending on the pattern of spending and redemption. We use Membership Rewards when we earn 1.5 or more points per dollar, SPG elsewhere.

dennis

Christinern

Based on everything I"ve read from this forum I have opened a personal starwood card & kept my Business Amex card. When I was talking to the amex rep. he told me that there is a new Gold Business Card. It sounds pretty good. What do you all think?

Could earn 100,000 bonus points in 1st yr

5000 bonus pts. after 1st purchase
5000 bonus pts. after reach $20,000 in spending
20,000 bonus pts. for $50,000 in spending
10,000 pts. for your 1 yr. card renewal
60,000 pts. if you average $5000.00 per mo. on your card for 1 yr.

---------------Christine

ehlfg

Are you sure that's 60,000 bonus points? My impression is that the 60,000 points is the standard one point per $ spent, not bonus points. That is, $5000/month x 12 months = 60,000 MR points.

quinella66

I would vote for the SPG Amex hands down. Perhaps my favorite thing about the SPG program is that there are NO CAPACITY CONTROLS. If you want a night in a hotel, it is a rare case that you do not get it. It is a much better experience than calling the airlines and having to listen to them try to convince you to take an ugly flight on a Tuesday (so you cannot take advantage of your weekends) or spend twice the points.

It does of course also depend on what you are looking for. I guess there are those cases that you need miles and moving the points through MR can get you more, but for my purposes, I would rather have the points as SPG, I usually can always find a use for them. People often bring up the hotly debated issue of first class flights but it really depends on how important that is to you. First class is nice but in my opinion, not worth it - I would rather fly coach and use my points to travel more. When the company paid for it, it was nice, but to me there are better ways to spend my money and points.

robbert

Same experience here, initially got a credit limit on Starwood Plat card similar to other cards we carry. Within 6 months, and with some extra spending, we are now looking at a credit limit that is about 3x higher than any balance we carry in any given month (actually 6 weeks in a cycle: 4 to accumulate and 2 to pay off while spending continues).

mia

Correct.

Christinern

OOPS!! You are right the 60,000 points are not a bonus,they are what you would normally get if you spent $5000.00 per mo. They always try to make it sound soooo good. I have to learn to not only listen, but listen carefully & read all the fine print!-------------Christine

ss315

I didn't realize you can do this. How does this work?

whiteknuckles

With my Amex Platinum Card, I can purchase up to 500,000 miles per year at $25 per thousand miles. Can Starpoints be purchased using the SPG Amex Card, and if so, what is the cost and annual limit?