American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Card (before August 2018)
Updated April 1, 2018. Please see our updated review here.
The Facts
The Math
One Starpoint per dollar spent seems nothing special; however, Starpoints are extremely valuable, normally considered at 2~3 cents per point. People also love the flexibility to be able to redeem for hotel nights or transfer into different frequent flyer programs. In August 2015, the annual fee was again increased, and this time by $30; we think for many consumers, the added benefits such as waived foreign transaction fees and Boingo Wi-Fi will justify the increase.
Amex SPG Card vs. Fidelity Visa: As you may have noticed, our cashback benchmark Fidelity Visa, which gives you 2% cash back on everything without an annual fee, is very hard to beat. If your annual spending is $10K, then you need to value Starpoints above 2.95 cents per point to beat Fidelity:
$10,000 x 2.95% = $295 = 2% cash back + $95
If your annual spending is $30K, then you need to value Starpoints above 2.32 cents per points to beat Fidelity. Obviously, the more you spend the better value you will get out of it. And of course, if you value the benefits Amex SPG provides, such as stays & nights toward status, Boingo Wi-Fi, etc., it will be easier for Amex SPG to beat Fidelity Amex. In the end, the real difference between the two is that one has the transfer feature and the other offers straightforward cashback.
The Conclusion
The SPG Card is extremely popular among frequent travelers, due to the fact that Starpoints are highly valuable and flexible. For people who charge many Starwood stays to the card, it is a no-brainer. Even for people who never have any paid stays in Starwood hotels, it still can be the best all-around card in their wallets. It is our benchmark for miles/points cards and not surprisingly one of our Top 10 Best Credit Cards overall.
© 2018 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: The first year free and $95 thereafter
- Signup Bonus: (1) Personal Card: 25,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening. (2) Business Card: 25,000 points after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Historical best bonus: 35,000 points in 2016 and 2017.
- Personal Application Landing Page
- Business Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 2x Starwood & Marriott hotels (over 5,500 worldwide), and 1x everywhere else
- Best Use of Starpoints: (1) redeem for award nights or upgrades in Starwood hotels (including Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, W Hotels, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Four Points, element, aloft). (2) transfer into airline miles of 29 frequent flyer programs, mostly at 1:1 ratio. If you transfer 20,000 points in a bulk you will get 5,000 points as a bonus. This essentially makes the SPG Card the most versatile miles card out there. Please see our review on SPG vs. Membership Rewards vs. Ultimate Rewards vs. ThankYou vs. Club Rewards for details. (3) Nights & Flights package for Category 3 or 4 only: 60K points = 50K miles + 5 nights at a Category 3 hotel; 70K points = 50K miles + 5 nights at a Category 4 hotel. One way of looking at this is that you are able to transfer points to miles at 1:1.56 or 1:1.6 with award booking at a Category 3 or 4 hotel. (4) With the Marriott-Starwood merger, you can now link your SPG and Marriott / Ritz-Carlton accounts and transfer SPG points to Marriott / Ritz-Carlton Rewards points at a ratio of 1:3.
- SPG Benefits: Enjoy SPG Plus elite status which grant you the same benefits as the SPG Gold except for elite bonus points (this benefit is not published but has been in practice for years and the only thing you need to do is to call SPG). Cardholders have 2 stays and 5 nights toward SPG status, which means you only need 8 stays or 20 nights to reach SPG Gold. Obtain SPG Gold status if you spend $30K a year. Honestly, the mid tier SPG Gold is nothing much (well you get 50% bonus points when staying at SPG properties) while the top tier status - SPG Platinum is considered by many as the best in industry.
- Other Benefits: (1) Amex Offers - you receive savings in form of statement credit or earn bonus MR points on select merchants when using your Amex card; you need to manually add an offer to your Amex card to be eligible for savings or bonus, and unlike other savings/bonus programs, you don't need to shop through a certain portal. (2) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants. (3) Entertainment Access including American Express Presale and Premium Access (Dining Access). (4) The following benefits were added with the increased annual fee effective August 11, 2015: waived foreign transaction fees, unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi plan, complementary premium internet at participating Starwood hotels, and access to Sheraton Club Lounges for business cardmembers.
- Other Facts: There is a business card version which shares most features and benefits as the personal card. The business card is actually slightly better since it offers access to Sheraton Club and Amex OPEN savings.
- History: Amex has raised the annual fee three times, from $30 to $45 then to $65 and finally to $95. However, this card has always been extremely popular in the frequent traveler community.
The Math
One Starpoint per dollar spent seems nothing special; however, Starpoints are extremely valuable, normally considered at 2~3 cents per point. People also love the flexibility to be able to redeem for hotel nights or transfer into different frequent flyer programs. In August 2015, the annual fee was again increased, and this time by $30; we think for many consumers, the added benefits such as waived foreign transaction fees and Boingo Wi-Fi will justify the increase.
Amex SPG Card vs. Fidelity Visa: As you may have noticed, our cashback benchmark Fidelity Visa, which gives you 2% cash back on everything without an annual fee, is very hard to beat. If your annual spending is $10K, then you need to value Starpoints above 2.95 cents per point to beat Fidelity:
$10,000 x 2.95% = $295 = 2% cash back + $95
If your annual spending is $30K, then you need to value Starpoints above 2.32 cents per points to beat Fidelity. Obviously, the more you spend the better value you will get out of it. And of course, if you value the benefits Amex SPG provides, such as stays & nights toward status, Boingo Wi-Fi, etc., it will be easier for Amex SPG to beat Fidelity Amex. In the end, the real difference between the two is that one has the transfer feature and the other offers straightforward cashback.
The Conclusion
The SPG Card is extremely popular among frequent travelers, due to the fact that Starpoints are highly valuable and flexible. For people who charge many Starwood stays to the card, it is a no-brainer. Even for people who never have any paid stays in Starwood hotels, it still can be the best all-around card in their wallets. It is our benchmark for miles/points cards and not surprisingly one of our Top 10 Best Credit Cards overall.
© 2018 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.