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Lets talk about alternatives to the SPG Amex after the massive Marriott devaluation

Lets talk about alternatives to the SPG Amex after the massive Marriott devaluation

Old May 8, 2018, 8:22 am
  #301  
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: Bonvoy :Ambassador , ALL :Diamond, Skywards :Silver, Krisflyer :Silver
Posts: 2,777
Will amex keep using "SPG" name on their card ? or they will replace that with the "new program name"
kaizen7 is offline  
Old May 8, 2018, 12:22 pm
  #302  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Programs: UA-1k, 1mm, Marriott-LT Platinum, Hertz-Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,355
Originally Posted by stromile
the new amex card is probably worth having in a vacuum for anyone who spends a lot on marriott/SPG each year, but the value proposition gets murky for me when compared to other alternatives for wallet space, including the marriott cards. i think we need to know more about the differences between a 50k certificate and a 35k certificate, for example, which will continue to be a tough projection to make when the card is initially offered since marriott will have a whole year to screw with valuations / peak vs. off-peak / award availability before any anniversary certificates show up.

the $300 credit offsets all but $50 of the $350 extra AF over the current purple cards, in exchange for the same earnings rate on SPG/marriott spend (2x SPG/6x Marriott) and airfare/dining (1x SPG/3x marriott) but a 33% nerf to non-category spend (1x SPG to .67x SPG). the 50k certificate offsets the $100 extra AF if you do keep the card for a second year, and the value per 50k cert needed to break even goes down each year you renew ($100 per cert at AF #2 ; $75 at AF #3 , $67 at AF #4 ...). but for me the problem is that the vast majority of the value of the ~$100 AF for the SPG cards every year was the non-category spend. i don't see any value in 1x SPG for air/dining or 0.67x SPG for non-category spend. taking that value proposition out, the 50k certificate break-even point would have to be closer to $150 * 2 = $300 per cert year 1; $225 year 2; $200 year 3...

it's hard to tell how much value there will be at those levels. so i think i need to see what the sign-up bonus looks like. hopefully it at least opens with the 100k bonus from the premier plus, which i think would probably make the card worth getting and then keeping for at least the first two years.
What you didn't mention is the 15 nights credit each year for the cards (MR) and the possibility of earning 1 night per 3k in spend. Where does this factor in?
schley is offline  
Old May 8, 2018, 2:27 pm
  #303  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: IND
Programs: DL DM, SPG AMB, National EE
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So let's say you do the opposite of OP and the ONLY spend on the card is at SPG properties. Is this card still worth carrying? I'm too lazy to do actual math, but it seems like the hotel spend equation is the same as before, correct?
azeckel is offline  
Old May 9, 2018, 7:25 am
  #304  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 48
Can anyone comment here - I was reading up on Chase Ultimate Rewards and they were touting the discounts for going thru the Chase portal with one of the Sapphire cards. they said with the discount, you could get $100 worth of hotel for only 8k points with this method. This seemed really horrible to me as we regularly get $400+ SPG rooms for 16k points with an upgrade for being Gold.
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Old May 9, 2018, 7:42 am
  #305  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
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Originally Posted by heckofagator
Can anyone comment here - I was reading up on Chase Ultimate Rewards and they were touting the discounts for going thru the Chase portal with one of the Sapphire cards. they said with the discount, you could get $100 worth of hotel for only 8k points with this method. This seemed really horrible to me as we regularly get $400+ SPG rooms for 16k points with an upgrade for being Gold.
If booked through the Chase portal, $100 worth of travel costs 8k points with Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) and 6.67k points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR). Of course you earn 2X points on restaurants and travel with CSP and 3X's with CSR. You can also transfer these points to several airlines (and hotels, but with the exception of some Hyatts, the rate is generally not good) at 1:1. This is where you can get some of the better values for redemption, especially for people who travel internationally in premium cabins.
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Old May 9, 2018, 7:45 am
  #306  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
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Originally Posted by schley
What you didn't mention is the 15 nights credit each year for the cards (MR) and the possibility of earning 1 night per 3k in spend. Where does this factor in?
All the new cards offer the 15 nights credit. None of the new cards are offering the 1 night per 3k spend (only the old Chase card).
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Old May 9, 2018, 8:53 am
  #307  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: California
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DELETED

Last edited by UpperDeckJunkie; May 9, 2018 at 11:38 am Reason: Found the information myself
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Old May 9, 2018, 10:17 am
  #308  
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: MCI
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Originally Posted by schley
What you didn't mention is the 15 nights credit each year for the cards (MR) and the possibility of earning 1 night per 3k in spend. Where does this factor in?
as the previous poster noted, since the 15 night credit doesn't stack and is available with every other flavor of new marriott/SPG card, it's not a reason to choose the SPG luxury over the other marriott/SPG cards or to hold the SPG luxury in addition to any of the others.

as for the 1 night per $3k spend feature of old chase marriott cards: this is a niche benefit that is hard to value ex ante. category spend nights are only valuable if they're bumping you from one level to the next of either annual status or lifetime status. unless you are a big manufactured spender or you know in advance you're often going to be sitting really close to that 50 annual night range, i don't think you care about 1 night per $3k spend when it comes time to choose between cards to get/hold. if you are a big manufactured spender and/or you regularly hit between 45 and 50 nights in marriott + SPG properties a year and hate mattress runs, then this benefit is great for you, but either of those types of people surely already know that without reading a post about it. anyone else will, more likely than not, not get any benefit from that feature.
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Old May 9, 2018, 10:35 am
  #309  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: MSY
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Originally Posted by sdflyer04
Southwest is now pretty easy to monetize with 1.5 cents per mile. So, if I have the math right, I could charge $10,000 travel/dining on CSR and get 30,000 points that I could then transfer to Southwest. Those Southwest miles should be worth 30K times 1.5 cents or $450. That beats the $350 I would earn with the BofA Visa. I might do better on United or not. I don't often use United miles for premium international awards (although, I am considering just such a ticket now). Hyatt would be a great use of the points. But, with lifetime status on Marriott/Starwood, I question the wisdom in racking up a bunch of Hyatt points/stays.
Why wouldn't you book the tickets directly with UR, and therefore redeem at 1.5cpm and still earn SWA RR credit on those flights?
Explore SE Asia likes this.
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Old May 9, 2018, 6:09 pm
  #310  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Former UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
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My post August credit card plan has a major problem. The current plan is:
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) for restaurants and travel expenses
  • ​​​​Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) for everyday spending

The CFU is a great card but not overseas. I need a card for everyday spend without foreign transaction fees.
osotoc likes this.
Explore SE Asia is offline  
Old May 9, 2018, 9:25 pm
  #311  
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: MCI
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium
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no universal answer i know of. if you happen to already have the barclay arrival+ that would be a decent option and has some chip/pin capability, but it was just discontinued. the obvious MR earning amex options (BBP, ED, EDP) all have FTF, plus you might have amex acceptance issues in some regions.
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Old May 18, 2018, 1:58 pm
  #312  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 286
Does anyone know what happens to points earned prior to 8/1, on a statement that ends after 8/1? For instance my SPG Biz Amex billing cycle ends on the 17th. Points I earn from 7/18-8/1 won't post to a statement until 8/17. Will Those points earned prior to 8/1 count 3X, or only the points that come on my statement that ends on 7/17?
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Old May 18, 2018, 3:01 pm
  #313  
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I won't have as much need for Marriott points now that I won't be today's SPG/MR Gold any more through Amex Platinum. At the same time all this was happening, my Citi Exec card was coming up for renewal and I had bailed on AA last year and wanted to downgrade.

So the easy solution for now was to downgrade the Citi card to the fee-free Citi Double Cash (2%) for every day domestic non-categorized spend, and just keep the SPG card for earning when staying at Marriott/Starwood for work.
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Old May 19, 2018, 11:45 pm
  #314  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
Programs: AS MVP; UA Gold; DL Gold; Marriott Titanium
Posts: 156
Originally Posted by Explore SE Asia
My post August credit card plan has a major problem. The current plan is:
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) for restaurants and travel expenses
  • ​​​​Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) for everyday spending

The CFU is a great card but not overseas. I need a card for everyday spend without foreign transaction fees.
I don't think there is a transferable points card that has > 1x non-bonus earning potential that also has no foreign transaction fee.
I have the Chase UA Mileage Plus card too (1.5x UA miles/$1) with no FOREX, but again, only earning UA miles. Not a bad place to store miles, though.
If you have a particular currency (e.g., UR or MR) you want to add to--albeit at the slower 1x/$1 earning rate--then you should probably use that card.
Or, like me, I'll be using the BoA AS card to bulk up that account. I figured I'd diversity beyond UR, MR, and UA. So you can pick a specific airline and use that co-branded card.

I did think about the Cathay Pacific card, which earns 1.5x Asia Mileage points/$1 (specifically overseas) but those expire 3 years after earning, with no way to extend them.
Not sure I'll be able to gather enough to make it worthwhile.

Good luck!
Good luck!
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Old May 20, 2018, 9:15 pm
  #315  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 314
Unbonused spend: We were putting $30k per year each on SPG business, $25k-$50k on Delta Platinum to help with status, the rest on Freedom Unlimited. We'd recently added Blue Business Plus (shifting spend from Freedom Unlimited). Also our point balances have gotten kind of high so we also put a lot on the 3% Alliant cash back card last year, but were shifting that to BB+ now that we'd gotten one.

Bonused spend: Chase (CSR for travel and dining, Ink for office supplies and telecom, Freedom Unlimited, and Freedom.)

It's definitely not worth it for us to use SPG anymore due to reduced earn, not to mention loss of Sheraton Lounges and loss of Marriott lounges and upgrades.

So we will get a second BB+, and then any remaining will go back to Freedom Unlimited and cash back cards.
qofmiwok is offline  

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