Time traveller

I agree that the $30 increase in AF will not be worth the benefits if you already have other cards with no FTFs and since all SPG hotels offer free WiFi if booked directly through them.

Whether to keep this card really depends on if the 2stay/5night credit is worth it for the $95 AF. Compared to comparable cards for Marriott or Hilton, which comes with a free night certificate, which essentially pays for the AF and has no FTF, the SPG Amex card is not as competitive. I can see a lot of cardmembers cancelling the card when renewal time comes around.

username

It is interesting that I just cancelled my card a few weeks ago now that I will make lifetime Gold this month and don't need the 5 night credit any more. When I first read this, I was thinking maybe I should get the card back then I realized the fee also increased. The issue for me is that without Costco starting next spring, my AMEX spending will be limited. $65 did not justify it and $95 certainly won't.

Isn't it crazy how a single merchant changes the equation and I am probably not the only one?

Jamester

Thanks for all the good discussions/reactions to this "enhancements".

I’m a happy customer of the SPG (Personal) Amex and now looking seriously into the SPG (Business) Amex (to separate my business expenses which have often intermingled with personal). Would you recommend that I:

a) call/email Amex and ask to convert my Personal to Business card? (is that even possible?)

b) apply for a brand new Business card and collect 25K points bonus after meeting the spend criterias? (would they give me a bonus as a non-new SPG Amex cardholder)?

Goal (if all possible) is to keep just one card (Business), preferably with the same card number (but not a big deal if it’s not).

Please let me know everyone’s thoughts. Thx!

HangarGas

I acquired the AMEX SPG personal card (my first travel rewards card) in 2013 because returns of 3% to 5% after the $65 yearly fee were possible with about $10,000 yearly spend. Starwood points were the most valuable, the program was relatively transparent, and it offered varied redemption options and aspirational hotels. My first Starwood stay was after acquiring the card. My 30,000 point signup bonus was initially good for 10 nights at a local Four Points hotel near the ocean but 2014 devaluations from a hotel category increase resulted in only a 4 night stay value for the same bonus. After reviewing the August 2015 changes, I would prefer to be grandfathered into the current benefits and $65 yearly fee since the added card features do not offset the additional yearly spend required to justify me keeping the card. With $13,000 yearly spend after the $65 yearly fee, one needs to achieve at least $0.020 dollar returned per dollar spent to earn an after fee return of 1.5% equivalent to a no annual fee Capital One Quicksilver card. With $13,000 yearly spend after the $65 yearly fee, one needs to achieve at least $0.025 dollar returned per dollar spent to earn an after fee return of 2.0% which is about equivalent to a no annual fee Citibank Double Cash card. The dollar returned per dollar spent is equivalent to the room rate divided by the points for a free night since one point is earned per dollar spent. With the $95 yearly fee, $19,000 total yearly spend (more preferably) is required to achieve the same after fee returns. Some hotels will offer dollar returned per dollar spent above the numbers cited, but most will not - especially in California. Since the AMEX SPG card pays in credit card spend and the Starwood loyalty program does not award much for stays for non-elite members, further Starwood stays are unlikely after the card is cancelled. Also, since the signup bonus is a significant aspect of the overall return, and since there is only a once-per-lifetime signup bonus for AMEX personal cards, the likelihood of acquiring the AMEX SPG card in the future is slim unless the value proposition is appealing without the signup bonus. Maybe there will be enough business card members that value lounge access to offset the personal card members leaving the program.

flyerwanabe1

Converting is not possible so you will have to do b.

tsolin01

I agree with the sentiment that the new benefits are not worth the $30 increase in annual fee. The no foreign exchange fees is nice and really the only new benefit for existing elites with the card. I will end up keeping the card since I frequently stay at Starwood properties (80 nights so far) but it'll be a hard sell for me when I stop travelling.

Hawaiian717

I've had this card since it was blue and came with a 50% off certificate that I could never use. The idea of being able to earn points that I could transfer to many airline programs (more meaningfully, whichever one had the best award availability whenever I wanted to book a trip) was appealing.

Since then I've noticed I'm not very good at actually redeeming points and so the idea of cash back cards has become more appealing. Though I do have this fantasy of someday having a nice big stash of SPG points to use for a stay in an overwater bungalow somewhere like Tahiti (bucket list thing). So I'd already been thinking that maybe the $65 fee wasn't really worth it, and raising the fee doesn't help.

On top of that, I don't actually stay at SPG very often. My coworkers are stronger Hilton loyalists than I am SPG, so it's normally not worth the extra hassle of staying at a different hotel, especially when we travel together. Plus business travel expenses have to go on the company credit card, so there's no bonus points for on-property spend. And when I have personal travel I tend to be more cost focused, and SPG doesn't seem as competitive on the lower-middle tier (Four Points versus say Hampton, HGI, Fairfield, Courtyard, SpringHill, Hyatt Place, HI Express), and even if they're similarly priced many of those chains offer free breakfast.

The new benefits don't do much for me either. My father has me as an additional cardholder on his Amex Platinum, so I already get the free Boingo, and I already have no-FTF and no-AF Visa and MasterCards. Furthermore, one has all CVMs, so it ought to work pretty much everywhere, even if it is still signature-priority. If this were a chip and PIN priority card it would be worth keeping, but U.S. Amex cards don't even support backup PIN so it's no help there. The free wifi doesn't help much either, since that's obtainable by booking through the web site or as a welcome benefit with the SPG Gold status that comes with the Amex Platinum card.

But I still like Amex so I have to figure out what card I'd want instead. Probably either Blue Cash or EveryDay, but have to decide whether I want cash back or MR points, and whether the higher earning rate of the Annual Fee versions make them worthwhile.

It sounds like though from other posts that I can't just convert my account from SPG to a BC or ED card? Could I convert to the AF versions? If I have to reapply, is there a best way to do that? Like apply first, then have them transfer SPG credit limit to BC/ED or something like that? I don't churn so I'm not really worried about the temporary CL impact from a new application, but converting still seems like it would be less hassle.

Eujeanie

I also have the Hilton Amex Surpass (which I will keep because it gives Gold status which translates to free breakfast at all HH hotels - which is a huge monetary benefit over time) but I wanted to say we just received unsolicited replacement cards that DID have the chip (the reason for the replacement). And even though it takes a lot more HH points to get a room, the sheer multiples of earning both through the cc and the HH program do put the valuations more in balance (I think).

But breakfast is absolutely huge for us, and something we always have to budget/pay for at Starwood hotels.

sethb

Starwood transferring to airlines at 1.25 to 1 is less then a 3:1 benefit over IHG, so that would lower the preference for Starwood points.

LDNConsultant

Wondering if these benefits will be seen with the UK SPG card? The no-foreign transaction fee is a huge plus since I travel around so much!

cln

no spg amex in germany :<

susiesan

My current business SPG business card is up for renewal in Aug. If I call in July and ask to renew early can I pay $65AF instead of $95? I need to keep this card through Sept. so I can use the lounge access benefit at the Sheraton in Montreal for a 4 day SPG points stay on a vacation.

My other option is to get another SPG business card now in the name of a second business I have that has never had an SPG card, fee free 1st year, get the bonus points. Then cancel the current one when the AF comes due in August. As I have 409,000 SPG points in the bank, I need to have at least one SPG card to maintain my points. Also I need it for Costco shopping.

If I get a new SPG business card, all the points I have will stay in my account, right?

susiesan

Today June 21 I looked at the offer to open a new SPG business account. This is what they say about the annual fee:

"Basic Card Annual Fee
The annual fee for the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card will be waived for the first year of Card Membership. The annual fee will be $65."

This is very misleading. If you get a card now, by the time you pay the annual fee in a year it will be $95.

Also, this is what it says about bonus points:

"Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product within the last 12 months."

So if I have had an SPG card before but it was cancelled 12 months ago do I get the bonus offer of 25K SPG points? What's the definition of applicant, individual SSN or business TPIN?

mahasamatman

I've never heard of a card allowing early renewal, but it's an interesting idea.

ASUDan130

If you had the personal SPG card and then sign up for the business, then you should get that bonus. The product refers to the SPG Biz card speficially and the personal is a different product.