The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express gives you the opportunity to earn a welcome offer of 75,000 bonus points after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
It’s a hotel rewards credit card with a $95 annual fee, plus a rewards program that revolves around the Starwood Preferred Guests family of hotels, including Sheraton, Westin, and W.
With this card, you can earn 6X points for each dollar of eligible purchases at participating SPG and Marriott Rewards hotels. Then, earn 2X points on all other eligible purchases. Avid travelers who like to stay at luxury hotels and big money savers will get a great value out of this card.
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card Summary
Earning Starpoints
Earns 6X Starpoints for every $1 spent at Starwood and Marriott properties, no caps or restrictions.
All other purchases earn an unlimited 2X Starpoints per $1 spent.
Redeeming Starpoints
Redeem your accumulated Starpoints for free hotel nights, room upgrades, gift cards, travel, entertainment packages, donations and more.
Free night redemption start at 2,000 points for budget-friendly Category 1 hotels and go up to 35,000 points for high-end Category 7 hotels. Room upgrade redemption start at 1,000 points for Category 1 properties and go up to 2,750 points for Category 7. However, Starpoint redemption values can vary based on season and demand. Keep in mind that some SPG and Marriott hotels and resorts may have mandatory service charges.
Use Starwood’s Cash & Points option to combine Starpoints and cash to earn a free room. You’ll need 1,500 points and $30 to earn a free Category 1 night or up to 15,000 points and $275 for a free Category 7 night.
If you don’t want to redeem your points at Starwood properties, transfer Starpoints at a 1:1 ratio to many of SPG’s airline transfer partners. Some partners include: American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Recently, SPG and Marriott merged. Thus, you can transfer Starpoints to Marriott Rewards points at a 1:3 ratio and vice versa. You can then go for the offers featured Marriott’s award chart.
When you transfer at least 20,000 points to a participating frequent flyer program, you get a 5,000 point bonus, which is 25% boost in points.
Cardholder Perks
The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express comes with a selection of travel and purchase perks. A couple are free in-room internet access at any Starwood or Marriott hotel and free Boingo Wi-Fi access at many U.S. and Europe airports. Here are some key perks you may want to know:
- Complementary Silver Status: Get Silver Elite status in the Marriott rewards program. This gives you a 20% boost on the base points you earn for eligible hotel stays. Also, if you spend $35,000 in a year, you’ll get an automatic upgrade to Gold status. Gold status gives you some great hotel perks, including free in-room internet, complimentary room upgrades, lounge access and more.
- Free Night Award: Redeem one free Night Award every year after your card account anniversary. Awards can be used for one night at a participating hotel (limit a maximum of 35,000 points) for your redemption. Select hotels have resort fees.
- Complementary ShopRunner Membership: As long as you have your card, you’ll also get ShopRunner membership. ShopRunner is similar to Amazon Prime but for over 100 retail stores. You get free 2-day shipping and free returns with your online orders through participating retailers. Annual membership for ShopRunner is normally $79.
- No Foreign Transaction Fee: Enjoy international travel without foreign transaction fees when you make purchases abroad.
Conclusion
The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express proposes a fantastic welcome offer. Starwood is flexible with more airline mileage transfer options than anyone else and covers more than 30 airline partners. Avid travelers who frequently stay at luxury hotels will get a great value out of this bonus. With its competitive points value, option to transfer Starpoints to a multitude of frequent flier programs, and automatic credit toward Elite status, we definitely recommend considering applying today! These Starwood points are tough to earn, but they are one of the single most valuable currency there is. Find our complete list of credit card promotions today!
Learn more about this card and its features here.
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