Too bad they don't say it in the offer. Always a catch.

The SPG offer says in bold:

Please allow 6-8 weeks from account funding for the first half of Starpoints to appear in your Starwood Preferred Guest account. Account must remain open with minimum funding of elected tier level for 6 months; at that time allow 6-8 weeks for the second half of Starpoints to appear in your Starwood Preferred Guest account.

Might not have been clear then, but it looks pretty clear now.

Hmmm, now let's take a look at the United offer. The decisive words 'elected tier level' are conspicuously absent as of 6/12/03 10.05pm CST anyway.

"Offer valid for new Individual or Joint accounts opened and funded between 11/01/02 and 07/31/03. Please allow 4-6 weeks from account funding for the first half of the miles to appear in your United account. Account must remain open with minimum funding for 6 months; at that time allow 4-6 weeks for the second half of the miles to appear in your United account."

Edited for change of emphasis.

[This message has been edited by michaelr (edited 06-12-2003).]

[This message has been edited by michaelr (edited 06-12-2003).]

They updated the language the day after I spoke to the CEO's secretary. It used to just say "Minimum level of funding" which inferred the $2,000 level.

I would print a copy of the wording current whne you submit your paperwork to open the account. "Just in case" it changes after the fact.

I had no problem getting the 25,000 Delta miles. The second half posted in April, even though the value had dropped below $50,000.


[This message has been edited by flowerchild (edited 06-14-2003).]

How long ago did you open the account? I did the NWA 2500 points Etrade deal and got the poiints on May 3rd for an account opened on April 2nd

Did it drop because you withdrew money or because the market value of your investments fell?

My understanding was that it was fine if your minimum balance fell because of market conditions but not if you withdrew cash from the account.

on Etrade, they had very loose offer language and then some fine print on the confirm screen, which I printed out but did not read until I wrote to complain 6 mos later.

It's confirmed.

1. You can collect the first 4000 bonus miles even if you already have an account with Ameritrade.
2. My miles posted about 2-3 weeks after I started the application.

I did transfer new money into the account and then transfered stock from the old into the new and now I am withdrawing the 'new' money.

We'll see if the remaining 4000 will post. I'd be surpised if they didn't. Ultimately, I just did it to top off my account to get above 50000 miles.

I opened a first time account on July 9th with $5000. My 4000 miles just posted this evening (July 18th). I'll probably leave the money there for another month or more, but not sure yet if I will wait out the six months for the other 4000 miles or not. Still, I'm quite happy with how well it has worked so far http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I have been waiting over six weeks for the first 10,000 points to post. It seems you always have to work for the points/miles!

any spg offers for current account holders?

Opened the account with Ameritrade and sent them the money about 10 days ago - $25,000 for 20,000 Starpoints. Got the first 10,000 today. They said 6-8 weeks, but it was only 10 days! God Bless FlyerTalk! :p

I did this about a year ago, kept the initial amount in for the full 6 months, and then closed it down. Got the points at the beginning and the end with no problems. In my case, I just let it languish in a tax-free money market fund.