SPG vs. Membership Rewards vs. Ultimate Rewards (before July 2014)
Updated July 2, 2013. For the current review please see here.
In this review we will compare three most popular and versatile rewards programs in the market. They are similar in that their points can be transferred into miles/points of a number of frequent traveler programs (airlines/hotels).
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) is the frequent guest program of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide whose hotel portfolio includes St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Le Meridien, Westin, Sheraton, aloft, element, Four Points by Sheraton. SPG points can be very valuable when redeemed for hotel stays in Starwood hotels. Here we don't want to go into details of hotel redemption, please visit spg.com for more information.
SPG points can also be redeemed for merchandise gift cards or direct flight booking. However these options generally does not represent the best value. Other than hotel redemption, SPG points can be extremely valuable when transferred into miles of 29 frequent flyer programs:
Membership Rewards (MR) from American Express
There are three levels in Membership Rewards program, and they are associated with different Amex cards:
Membership Rewards Express:
Membership Rewards: The regular MR has all features of MR Express. The points advance limit is raised to 15K. The major difference, however, is the feature to transfer MR points into miles/points. MR points can be transferred into miles of 17 frequent flyer programs:
Membership Rewards First:
Three Ways of Using MR points for Airfare:
In addition to the aforementioned two options to redeem MR points for airfare - Pay with Points (fixed value, 1 cent per point for MR Express and MR, 1.25 cent per point for MR First) and the transfer feature, Amex also offers certificates for economy tickets for the following airlines: Cathay Pacific, Swiss, Qantas, and South African Airways. Note that they (except Swiss) are not transfer partners: you can't transfer MR points to their miles but you rather use a bulk of points in exchange for certificates that can be used for economy tickets (or companion tickets). The use of certificates is not subject to capacity control and you can actually earn miles on them. There is no certificates for business or first class tickets.
For example, using the certificate a round-trip economy ticket on Swiss from SFO/LAX to Europe costs 65K points no matter how much the revenue ticket actually costs. If you use Pay with Points feature and the revenue ticket costs $1,000, you will need 100K points or 80K points (if you have MR First). For comparison, if you want to use Swiss' own frequent flyer program - Miles and More, which by the way is a transfer partner of SPG, it will cost 50K miles plus fuel surcharge (which can be as high as, say $400) and is subject to capacity control.
Ultimate Rewards (UR) from Chase
Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) is a knock-off of Amex Membership Rewards. You earn one extra point for one dollar spent on airfare booked through UR, but unlike Amex, Chase does not charge a booking fee. You also earn up to 10x points when shopping through UR. The regular UR program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, cash and travel, at up to 1 cent per point. Sapphire Preferred, J.P. Morgan Select, J.P. Morgan Palladium, and Ink Bold/Plus Business Card, on the other hand, have two premium redemption options: one is 25% bonus to travel redemption via UR (1 point = 1.25 cent); the other is transfer to miles/points of frequent traveler programs. Just like MR, transfer from UR to miles/points is instantaneous. Currently, UR has much fewer transfer partners than SPG or MR, and we expect the list will get longer in the future:
The Comparison Chart: SPG vs. MR vs. UR
In this review we will compare three most popular and versatile rewards programs in the market. They are similar in that their points can be transferred into miles/points of a number of frequent traveler programs (airlines/hotels).
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) is the frequent guest program of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide whose hotel portfolio includes St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Le Meridien, Westin, Sheraton, aloft, element, Four Points by Sheraton. SPG points can be very valuable when redeemed for hotel stays in Starwood hotels. Here we don't want to go into details of hotel redemption, please visit spg.com for more information.
SPG points can also be redeemed for merchandise gift cards or direct flight booking. However these options generally does not represent the best value. Other than hotel redemption, SPG points can be extremely valuable when transferred into miles of 29 frequent flyer programs:
- Air Canada Aeroplan (1:1)
- Air Berlin TopBonus (1:1)
- Air China Companion (1:1)
- Air New Zealand & Air Points (65:1)
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (1:1)
- Alitalia MilleMiglia (1:1)
- All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (1:1)
- American Airlines AAdvantage (1:1)
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
- Asiana Airlines Asiana Club (1:1)
- British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
- Continental Airlines OnePass (2:1)
- Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1:1)
- Emirates Skywards (1:1)
- Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
- Hawaiian Airlines (1:1)
- Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (1:1)
- Kingfisher Airlines King Club (1:1)
- LAN LANPASS (1:1.5)
- Mexicana Frecuenta (1:1)
- Miles and More (1:1)
- Qatar Airways (1:1)
- Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan (1:1)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
- Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus (1:1)
- US Airways Dividend Miles (1:1)
- United Airlines Mileage Plus (2:1)
- VARIG Smiles (2:1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)
Membership Rewards (MR) from American Express
There are three levels in Membership Rewards program, and they are associated with different Amex cards:
- Membership Rewards Express: Blue ($0), Zync ($25); Blue Business ($0)
- Membership Rewards (Regular): Green ($95), Gold ($125), Ameriprise co-branded Gold ($125), Premier Rewards Gold ($175), Mercedes-Benz Credit Card ($95); Membership Rewards Business Card ($75), Business Green Rewards ($95), Business Gold Rewards ($175)
- Membership Rewards First: Platinum ($450), Mercedes-Benz co-branded Platinum ($475), Ameriprise co-branded Platinum ($450), Centurion ($2,500); Business Platinum ($450)
Membership Rewards Express:
- MR Express points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, travel, and so on, at up to 1 cent per point.
- Amex allows you to advance points which you need to pay back later. The limit of points advance in the MR Express program is 5K.
- You earn one extra point for each dollar spent on travel booked through MR; however, Amex charges a booking fee on airfare so most likely it is not a good deal.
- You also earn up to 10 bonus points per dollar spent when shopping via MR. Note many other sites provide bonus points or cash back for online shopping as well. So it is up to you if you want to use this feature.
- There is NO transfer feature like the regular MR or MR First. However, if you have a card that is associated with regular MR or MR First, your MR Express points will be automatically pooled into higher level of MR and thus will be able to be transferred into miles/points. An interesting strategy can be developed from this: you can obtain a MR Express card first to avoid huge annual fee and accumulate points; when you have enough points to be transferred to a particular program, open a new MR card or upgrade your existing MR Express card so that your MR Express points will "become" MR points; once you are done with your bulk transfer, close the MR card or downgrade it to a MR Express card and get prorated refund of your annual fee. You will restart accumulating MR Express points and the cycle goes on and on. Of course for some people, the MR or MR First cards offer added features that can outrun the annual fees, thus there is no need to practice this strategy.
Membership Rewards: The regular MR has all features of MR Express. The points advance limit is raised to 15K. The major difference, however, is the feature to transfer MR points into miles/points. MR points can be transferred into miles of 17 frequent flyer programs:
- AeroMexico (1:1)
- Air Canada Aeroplan (1:1)
- Alitalia MilleMiglia (1:1)
- All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (1:1)
- British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
- Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1:1)
- EL AL Israel Airlines Matmid Club (50:1)
- Emirates Skywards (1:1)
- Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
- Frontier EarlyReturns (1:1)
- Hawaiian Airlines (1:1)
- Iberia Plus (14:1)
- JetBlue TrueBlue (1.25:1)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
- Virgin America Elevate (2:1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)
- Best Western Rewards (1:1)
- Choice Privileges (1:1)
- Hilton HHonors (1:1.5)
- Intercontinental Priority Club (1:1)
- Jumeirah Sirius (23:1)
- Starwood Preferred Guest (3:1)
Membership Rewards First:
- The MR First has all the features of the regular MR program and adds the First Collection - a collection of "premium" redemption partners, which usually don't represent good value.
- The points advance limit is raised to 60K.
- You also one extra point per dollar spent than the regular MR via MR First online shopping portal.
- You earn 20% points back (=25% bonus) if you use Pay with Points option for travel, i.e. 1 point = 1.25 cent. Note that this is not the transfer feature that we value the most. This benefit will go away on February 1, 2013.
Three Ways of Using MR points for Airfare:
In addition to the aforementioned two options to redeem MR points for airfare - Pay with Points (fixed value, 1 cent per point for MR Express and MR, 1.25 cent per point for MR First) and the transfer feature, Amex also offers certificates for economy tickets for the following airlines: Cathay Pacific, Swiss, Qantas, and South African Airways. Note that they (except Swiss) are not transfer partners: you can't transfer MR points to their miles but you rather use a bulk of points in exchange for certificates that can be used for economy tickets (or companion tickets). The use of certificates is not subject to capacity control and you can actually earn miles on them. There is no certificates for business or first class tickets.
For example, using the certificate a round-trip economy ticket on Swiss from SFO/LAX to Europe costs 65K points no matter how much the revenue ticket actually costs. If you use Pay with Points feature and the revenue ticket costs $1,000, you will need 100K points or 80K points (if you have MR First). For comparison, if you want to use Swiss' own frequent flyer program - Miles and More, which by the way is a transfer partner of SPG, it will cost 50K miles plus fuel surcharge (which can be as high as, say $400) and is subject to capacity control.
Ultimate Rewards (UR) from Chase
Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) is a knock-off of Amex Membership Rewards. You earn one extra point for one dollar spent on airfare booked through UR, but unlike Amex, Chase does not charge a booking fee. You also earn up to 10x points when shopping through UR. The regular UR program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, cash and travel, at up to 1 cent per point. Sapphire Preferred, J.P. Morgan Select, J.P. Morgan Palladium, and Ink Bold/Plus Business Card, on the other hand, have two premium redemption options: one is 25% bonus to travel redemption via UR (1 point = 1.25 cent); the other is transfer to miles/points of frequent traveler programs. Just like MR, transfer from UR to miles/points is instantaneous. Currently, UR has much fewer transfer partners than SPG or MR, and we expect the list will get longer in the future:
- British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
- Korean Air SkyPass(1:1)
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1:1)
- United Airlines Mileage Plus (1:1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)
- Hyatt Gold Passport (1:1)
- Marriott Rewards (1:1)
- Intercontinental Priority Club (1:1)
- Ritz-Carlton Rewards (1:1)
- Amtrak Guest Rewards (1:1)
The Comparison Chart: SPG vs. MR vs. UR
| SPG | Membership Rewards | Ultimate Rewards | |
| Credit Cards | Amex SPG | Blue*, Zync*, Green, Gold, PR Gold, Platinum, Centurion, MR Business | Freedom*, Sapphire*, Sapphire Preferred, JPM Select, JPM Palladium, Ink Classic*, Ink Cash*, Ink Bold, Ink Plus |
| Airlines | 29 | 17 | 5 |
| Hotels | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Amtrak | 1:1 | No | 1:1 |
| Transfer Rate** | 1:1 but 1:1.25 for 20K bulk transfer | 1:1 but can be better if there is a promotion | 1:1 |
| Transfer Lag | Days or weeks | No Lag | No Lag |
| Transfer Surcharge | None | 0.06 cent per 1 point for domestic airline partners up to $99 | None |
| Unique Partners | American, US Airways, Alaska, LAN, Asiana, Japan, Thai, and 9 more | AeroMexico, El Al Israel, Frontier, Iberia, JetBlue, Virgin America, Best Western, Hilton, Jumeirah | Southwest, Korean Air, Hyatt, Marriott |
| Airfare Booking Bonus | NA | 1 extra point with booking fees | 1 extra point |
| Online Shopping Bonus | NA | up to 10x | up to 10x |