30,000 Starpoints bonus from the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card (expired)

For a limited time, you can earn up to 30,000 bonus Starpoints from the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card.  The SPG card is one of my favorite credit cards and is undoubtedly one of the best travel credit cards available.  This deal only comes around one time every year and if you don’t have an SPG card in your wallet, now is the time to consider it! 

New bonus details

• Earn 10,000 Starpoints after your first purchase on the Card.
• Earn 20,000 Starpoints after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months.

Normally, this card has a 25,000 Starpoints bonus (10,000 Starpoints after first purchase and 15,000 Starpoints after making $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months).  While the normal SPG bonus is already pretty good, 5,000 extra Starpoints makes this promotion even sweeter.  This is the highest sign-up bonus that comes with the SPG card.  There is a $0 introductory annual fee for the card, then $65.

Note: if you have had this card in the past, you may not be eligible for another welcome bonus offer.

This offer expires on June 30th, 2014.

American Express refer a friend bonus

If you already have an SPG card, you can refer it to your friends and earn a 5,000 Starpoint bonus when they apply and are approved.  You can refer up to 11 friends and if they are approved, you can earn an extra 55,000 Starpoints.  If you and your significant other both want an SPG card, one of you should first apply and then refer the other.  Starpoints can be transferred between spouses who live at the same address for free.

Go here to refer the Personal SPG card

Go here to refer the Business SPG card

Starpoints are valuable

Starpoints are extremely valuable and flexible.  They can be used for both hotel stays and flights. Starpoints can be valued at a minimum of around 1.5 cents and up to 4 cents per point.  30,000 Starpoints can have a cash value of between $450 to $1,200!  If you are staying at an SPG property and paying with your SPG card, you can earn up to 5 Starpoints for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with the hotel.  You earn 2 Starpoints as a Card Member and 2 or 3 Starpoints as an SPG member.

Hotel Points

SPG brands include Four Points, Sheraton, Aloft, W Hotels, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, Element, Westin, and St. Regis.  There are over 1100 participating hotels in nearly 100 countries.  There are several categories of hotel stays in which you can redeem Starpoints.

As you can see, a basic SPG Category 1 hotel can be redeemed for 2,000 points each night.  The most expensive SPG Category 7 hotel will run up to 35,000 points per night.  We’ve used our Starpoints to stay for free in Seoul Korea, Miami Florida, and San Francisco California!  The best part of redeeming your Starpoints for free hotel stay is that you are not charged any taxes or fees.  Your hotel stay is completely 100% free!

Special fifth reward night free

A nice feature about Starpoints is that if you redeem five nights with your Starpoints, the fifth night is free at any category 3,4,5,6, and 7 hotel.  On our trip to Asia, we were able to get 1 night free after redeeming Starpoints for 4 nights at the Sheraton D Cube in Seoul, Korea.

Cash and Points Award Nights

Let’s say you don’t have enough points for a free night.  You can use a combination of cash & points to get a significant discount on your next hotel stay.  This can also be used to stretch out the value of your Starpoints.

SPG Airline partners

SPG points can be transferred to over 30 of the major airlines, most at a ratio of 1 point to 1 mile.  You earn a special bonus of 5,000 Starpoints when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints.  For example, you can convert 20,000 Starpoints into 25,000 airline miles.

Participating airlines include: Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta, Hawaiian, US Airways, United, Virgin Atlantic, and much more (over 350 airlines).

American Express Backdating

One hidden benefit of having an American Express card is that for every future AMEX card you open up, American Express will “backdate” your membership year to when you first got approved for an American Express card.  This is a great feature that will help keep your average age of accounts older and will ultimately boost your credit score.  This is another reason why if you don't already have an AMEX card, now is the time to open one.

American Express purchase protection

AMEX is known for having the best purchase protection and extended warranty coverage of any credit card.  Recently, when my iPhone battery became defective, American Express did not hesitate to credit me the full value of my purchase.  When purchasing something expensive, we always make sure we use one of our American Express cards.

The first year of owning this card is free, so you can really test it out to see if it’s worth the fee.  After the first year, the annual fee is $65 a year.  Most frequent flyer travelers will agree that the SPG card is definitely a keeper.