The "Official" Starwood AmEx Card Thread.... Points OR miles

Looks like they raised the annual fee for Starwood Card to $45....sucks.

Addendum: but the Business Starwood card is still $30...I think it's time to switch.

cameron2003 said: So if I get this card I can redeem $1 for 1.25 miles. I'm planning a trip on Alasjka Air, and their price for each mile you buy is 2.5 cents. That makes the starwood option worth about 3.125% return on the dollar. My Fidelity 529 card gets me 2% and I have a Chase 5% card for groceries and such. 3.125% is better than 2%, but there is an annual fee.

In my situation, I think it is worth getting to get the bonus points and transfer them to Alaska. But I am not sold on using it for purchases just yet.
You'll fall in love with AMEX once you have a chargeback situation on your hands with a retailer. AMEX has your back.

isles1 said: isles1 said: Has anyone had recent success getting 2500 points using the link below (the one listed in the quick summary on the first page) to add an authorized user? If so, how long did it take the points to post?

https://www201.AmericanExpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/16721/s/110 Text

TIAAnyone?

no, that promo is long way gone now

The Cathay example in the original post is about to be out-of-date. You will no longer be able to get that business award on BA for only 60,000 CX miles. The price is going up next month.

clarksonu said: Just call AMEX for switch? Can AMEX consolidate two card and then I apply a new starwood biz later?


somdave2005 said: Looks like they raised the annual fee for Starwood Card to $45....sucks.

 

Addendum: but the Business Starwood card is still $30...I think it's time to switch.

Clarksonu, unfortunately they're going to raise the annual fee for the Business card too... in November. So you might as well just keep the personal Starwood card.

sechs said: I just received the card member agreement update... but it doesn't seem to include a change in the annual fee.

It seems that different people are getting this change at different times. Perhaps I just haven't gotten that update yet.

Anybody else?

I'm in the same boat -- received T&C change letter, but it did not mention increase in the annual fee ... but a few days later I received a statement and with it were included some other changes to T&C which did list $45 fee effective Nov'07. Have the card (only) since Feb'07

wow thats amazing.

i am wondering if you can convert SPG to another card, and after say a year convert it back to SPG to receive the 10K bonus.

BankofGreed said:
As an additional data point, I already have the personal SPG card and received the 10K bonus points upon applying.

In addition, I had a business platinum rewards card and recently converted it into a business SPG card. I made a quick purchase on that card about a month ago, and lo and behold, a month later, I received an additional 10K bonus points.

When I go to starwoods website to transfer points, how come continental is 2 for 1 points? I thought the front page of this post is 1 to 1? Thanks

cyberkost said: I'm in the same boat -- received T&C change letter, but it did not mention increase in the annual fee ... but a few days later I received a statement and with it were included some other changes to T&C which did list $45 fee effective Nov'07. Have the card (only) since Feb'07

Just viewed my latest statement, and the change is in there.

However, my anniversary date is at the end of October, so I should dodge the change for a year....

They (personal and business) are both $45 now.

Anyone had any luck getting "grandfathered" to that $30 rate? Or are you planning on getting a new replacement every year?

somdave2005 said: Looks like they raised the annual fee for Starwood Card to $45....sucks.

 

Addendum: but the Business Starwood card is still $30...I think it's time to switch.

how many points will you now need to get a roundtrip on business class to Europe on Cathay?

LA to London is 120000 miles on business class now through Cathay!! That's no deal at all...

uclastallion said: LA to London is 120000 miles on business class now through Cathay!! That's no deal at all...
Or you could take AA which requires 90k miles for Biz class(AASaver offpeak)
AA redemption chart
or you could take BA which requires 100k miles for Biz class BA redemption chart

I called to cancel my g/f's card today - as her 1 yr card anniversary is tomorrow. The CSR offered 1k starwood points to keep the card active - at which I laughed. The CSR was quite puzzled and I explained that a free night takes at least 3-4k pts at which he said he's not going to give us a free night. Since I did call with the intention of really canceling - I have proceeded to convert the card to blue cash.

So - just wanted to throw it out there - that you could possibly score at least 1k *wood points from retentions.

Sackajacka said: jiffy said: Has anyone been successful in getting them to waive the fee for year 2 or reduce it back to $30? I recall people were able to waive the $30 successfully last year. I called and tried but no go. I might call back and try again.

I called when I heard the annual fee was going up. I was told by the CSR to call back when billed at renewal -- my spending on the card (daily spender) was high enough that they should waive it if I kepy up at the same level. He seemed to indicate that there was some tiered structure as to your spending and "rating". My impression was that waiving the fee was much more likely the more you actually use the card.

I called today regarding the increase in card fees, but the CSR didn't offer anything.
When I said I would just cancel the card, she said I should look at other AMEX cards then.

I spent over 50k on the card this year.
What sort of threshold do you have to spend to get the fee deductions?

krazieman said: Sackajacka said: jiffy said: Has anyone been successful in getting them to waive the fee for year 2 or reduce it back to $30? I recall people were able to waive the $30 successfully last year. I called and tried but no go. I might call back and try again.

I called when I heard the annual fee was going up. I was told by the CSR to call back when billed at renewal -- my spending on the card (daily spender) was high enough that they should waive it if I kepy up at the same level. He seemed to indicate that there was some tiered structure as to your spending and "rating". My impression was that waiving the fee was much more likely the more you actually use the card.

I called today regarding the increase in card fees, but the CSR didn't offer anything.
When I said I would just cancel the card, she said I should look at other AMEX cards then.

I spent over 50k on the card this year.
What sort of threshold do you have to spend to get the fee deductions?

I don't know exactly. I spend ~$1000 to $2,000 per month or so. I'd call back and try again with another CSR. Did you specifically ask for a waiver of the fee?

jlgrandam said: Starwood is running the friends and family promotion again. Got postcards in the mail that include a unique code. If you get your friends or family to apply using the unique code, they get the normal 10k bonus points and you get 5k bonus points for referral. If anyone is thinking of applying for SPG cards, we should set up a FW referral club (similar to the Chase checking bonus referral thread). Be on the lookout in your mailboxes, promotion ends 2/29/08.

That would be nice, but why would I apply for it with a referral from a stranger and get 10K points, while I can apply for it here and get 10K points + $30. Is a stranger going to send me a check for $30?.. It really is a family and (to a lesser extent) friends deal as 15K points > 10K points + $30 .. but, of course, only under assumption that one does not care too much who gets the points in the family / friends.

Ok, my SPG anniversary is approaching ... for definitiveness, let's say it's on Feb 10, 2008. I'm thinking of calling in sometime during the 2nd half of January and have this card converted into HHonors card. The thing is that I have 7.5K deferred points (from a promo when one gets 1.5K points for each single transaction of $1500+) -- these should post 6-8 weeks after Dec 31, 2007. Any experience as to getting the promo points after the card has been converted (T&C say "To receive bonus Starpoints, your Card account must be open and in good standing" ... but I don't close the account, do I? even the card number stays the same (or so I think))

I had just called to cancel my card and was offered a $10 credit to offset the annual fee, but I declined. Converted the card to Hilton HHonor.

DelCheapo said: For those of you that cancelled this card, you still retain the SPG points that you accumulated on the card, correct?

You keep your points, but be aware they are supposed to expire after 12 months of inactivity.