Starwood AMEX Plat Card Great for Travelers
Written: Jun 30 '05
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Pros: Great for frequenters at Starwood hotels, 5,000 mile bonus with 20,000 point transfers, no blackouts
Cons: Shoddy customer service
The Bottom Line: For the first year free and $30 thereafter, the SPG AMEX is one of the best frequent flying card out there. And, for almost every major airline! Try it.
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| slippahs's Full Review: Sheraton Starpoints (American Express) |
I've been using the American Express (AMEX) Starwood Platinum credit card (note the name change, the card is no longer called "Sheraton Starpoints (American Express)", and have enjoyed my time charging away. Here's a breakdown:
The Basics
What makes this AMEX such a great value is a low (compared to other affinity cards) annual fee of $30, which some have successfully have had waived (the only way to find out is to ask). The first year's annual fee is also waived, which makes it a great time to try the card out (which is what I'm doing right now). In addition, as a AMEX SPG card holder, you are barred from enrolling in the AMEX Membership Rewards program. Instead, you will earn Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG) points where, unlike Hilton HHonors points, SPG points are easily redeemable at SPG hotels. You can also transfer SPG points into your airline frequent flyer account with a 1 to 1 ratio, meaning that $5,000 you spend with this AMEX equals 5,000 Starpoints equals 5,000 miles at most carriers. Please read on for more information regarding this.
Starwood Hotels has been the “leading” program according to the Freddie Awards (links below). I’ve found customer service at Starwood branded hotels to be superb; however, their elite program to be lacking. However, the value of Starwood points, touched on in the paragraph above, is incredible. If one is smart, s/he would be able to get a lot of value out of their points, redeeming them for hotels that have very high rates or no availability. The fact that Starwood awards have no blackout dates also is a large plus. This means one can redeem Starwood points for any hotel that has a room to sell. Hilton HHonors points, on the other hand, are capacity controlled.
Earning Starwood Points/Airline Miles
Intro: Many frequent flyer buffs have rated this AMEX one of the best affinity card. WebFlyer, an internet frequent flyer company dedicated to frequent flyer products, has recently rated the SPG AMEX as the third affinity card as rated by its readers through the Freddie Awards. http://www.freddieawards.com/events/results.php?action=numbers&event_key=10&cat_name=Best_Affinity_Credit_Card
In 2004, Diner's was ranked first, then Alaska Airline's credit card, followed by SPG. Although Diner's is a great card, its $95 annual fee makes it a pain to deal with every year. I personally enjoy having the first year free in terms of annual fee followed by only $30. The Alaska Airline's credit card is also a good deal if you fly Alaska Airlines, which has a limited route network (though has a bunch of airline partners and offers some very good mileage redemption offers).
In 2005, the SPG American Express card was ranked second behind the Diner’s card. Of course, since 2004, Diner’s card has changed significantly, co-branding with MasterCard. Still, I believe the SPG AMEX is right up there with the Diner’s card despite its number two ranking. The full results can be found here:
http://www.freddieawards.com/events/?event_key=11
Earning SPG Points: Everyone knows that affinity credit cards like this helps earn points to top off your account for hotel stays, but as mentioned before, your Starpoints can be transferred to airline frequent flyer miles, many with a 1 to 1 ratio. In addition, when transferred 20,000 starpoints to your frequent flyer account, you'll receive a 5,000 mileage bonus, meaning that a total of 25,000 miles will be transferred.
Air Canada Aeroplan 1:1
Air FranceSM Frequence Plus 1:1
Air New Zealand Air Points 1:1
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan 1:1
Alitalia MilleMiglia 1:1
All Nippon Airways ANA Mileage Club 1:1
America West Airlines FlightFund 1:1
American Airlines AAdvantage 1:1
Asiana Club 1:1
British Airways Executive Club 1:1
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 1:1
Continental Airlines OnePass 1:1
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles 1:1
EVA Air Evergreen Club 1:1
Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines Skywards 1:1
Hawaiian Airlines 1:1
Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank 3:2
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flying Dutchman 2:1
LanChile LanPass 1:2
Lufthansa Miles and More 1:1
Mexicana Frecuenta 1:1
Northwest Airlines World Perks 1:1
Qantas Airways Frequent Flyer 1:1
Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan 1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:1
Swiss TravelClub 1:1
Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus 1:1
US Airways Dividend Miles 1:1
United Airlines Mileage Plus 2:1
VARIG 2:1
Virgin Atlantic Airways Flying Club 1:1
One of the largest downfalls for this card is the partnership with United, since the transfer rate is 2 starpoints for every dollar. If you are a frequent United Airlines flyer, it may be less advisable to apply for the SPG AMEX and more so to apply for the United Airlines' affinity credit cards, which would a larger net start-up bonus miles and 1 mile for every dollar spent.
I've also had little problems redeeming the Starpoints I've earned thru charging on this card for nights at Starwood branded hotels (which include Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection and W Hotels). There are also some great promotions when redeeming Starwood awards, such as “Fifth Night Free,” where one can receive the fifth night free when redeeming a stay for four nights.
For more information regarding redeeming Starpoints and what you can do with them, please visit this website: http://www.starwood.com/preferredguest/starpoints/redeem_landing.html
Special Bonuses
There are often special sign-up offers. Currently, SPG is offering up to 6,000 SPG points if you book stays at SPG hotels with the card. You are also given a 50% off certificate for SPG stays, which has become somewhat useless because of the difficultly of redeeming it. However, I have been able to use the SPG50, as it’s called, at many domestic hotels saving me anywhere from $15-$30 per night. Any savings is good, I guess.
As mentioned before, you may also have the opportunity to waive your annual fee, and others have mentioned receiving SPG point bonuses after 1 year. All of this, of course, depends on how much you spend on your AMEX at the end of your first year.
Accessing Your Account
As with most affinity credit cards, AMEX offers online access to your account, which I have found to be kept pretty up to date at posting transactions. Although you may pay your bills online through a checking or savings account, one of the biggest downfalls of this card is that there is no automatic bill payment of your Starwood American Express card, as you might find with cards like the WorldPerks Visa. You can have AMEX e-mail you when your statements are ready, however, and also sign up for mailed, online (or both) statements. I find it somewhat difficult to navigate my online access, however, but am somewhat pleased with the layout.
Customer Service
I have found AMEX customer service to be a bit shoddy when compared to other credit card companies. As with most large corporations, many American Express customer service calls are being routed to India. Now, I don’t have anything against people with India, but it’s nice to be able to speak to someone in the same country. Also, whether your call is routed to India or somewhere in the States, sometimes you receive phone agents who just do not know what they're talking about or do not have the proper authority to do what you ask of them. I have found this to be common with AMEX, but given the features listed above of this AMEX card, I find it hard to complain. Also, I rarely find the need to call customer service given the online features. For instance, you can submit a question to American Express via their online customer service center and receive a reply via e-mail within a few days. I had a problem with not receiving my SPG50 certificate shortly after signing up for the card and they not only got the certificate out, but e-mailed a reply AND called to follow up on the issue.
Final Thoughts
For more information on the Starwood American Express card, this website is a great resource created by someone who knows a lot more about Frequent Flyer miles than I do:
http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com/index.htm
All-in-all, the Starwood American Express, in my humble opinion is a great card. However, one might also now consider the Hilton HHonors American Express card which has recently expanded their earning details. One can now earn 5 points per dollar spent for purchases at places like Supermarkets and gas stations. Still, the ability to redeem Starwood points without any blackout dates or capacity restrictions puts the Starwood American Express above the Hilton HHonors American Express card. Yet, with both cards giving the first year free (and the HHonors American Express card being free thereafter and the Starwood card only being $30 after), it might just be worth it to get both cards and evaluate them for the first year. If you stay at these hotels, it’s a must.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
slippahs
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Location: Honolulu, Hawai'i
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Here in sunny Honolulu, Hawai'i, I type for the good of all :-)
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