Update: This sale ends today!
Originally posted on 4/19:
Starwood is offering 35% off purchases and gifts of 5K-30K Starpoints from today through 5/31.
This is a sale that Starwood runs a few times per year, but with the program being discontinued on 7/31, this may very well be the last chance to buy discounted Starpoints.
For example 20K Starpoints are on sale for $455 instead of $700 or 30K Starpoints are on sale for $682.50 instead of $1,050. That’s a cost of 2.275 cents per Starpoint instead of the regular 3.5 cents per Starpoint.
Of course you also earn miles for the purchase, which makes the real cost even less.
If you have a Starwood AMEX and buy 30K Starpoints for $682.50 you will earn 1,366 Starpoints for the purchase, so effectively you’ll pay $682.50 for 31,366 Starpoints, or 2.175 cents per Starpoint.
In August, all Starpoints will be automatically be tripled and converted into Marriott points, so 30K Starpoints will become 90K Marriott points. In other words the cost is 0.725 cents per Marriott point. Best of all Marriott is not devaluing Starpoints when the programs combine. In fact hotels costs will be lower and there will be more airline transfer partner added at the current SPG transfer ratio.
Compare this price to the $625 that Marriott charges for 50K Marriott points, or 1.25 cents per Marriott point.
If you need more than 30K Starpoints you’ll have to buy them with additional Starwood accounts as there is a limit of 30K Starpoints per account in annual purchases.
Luckily there’s an easy loophole. You can freely transfer Starpoints between Starwood accounts that are located at the same address. Note that you need to wait 14 days from when you open a new Starwood account until you can buy Starpoints, so you’ll want to open new accounts for different family members or friends now and then buy the points in 2 weeks from now with those accounts. Then you can transfers all of the points from those accounts into one account.
Here are some ideas for those Starpoints:
1. Discounted stays in SPG and Marriott hotels:
Thanks to the new combined Marriott and Starwood award chart coming in August that you can see in this post, many SPG and Ritz-Carlton hotels will be point bargains!
For example:
-The S. Regis Bal Harbour can cost over $1,100/night after tax. It currently costs 30K or 35K Starpoints to stay here, but in August that will plummet to just 20K Starpoints! If you buy Starpoints for 2.175 cents each, that’s like paying just $435 per night. Stay for 5 nights and you’ll pay 16K Starpoints per night, which is like paying $348 per night!
The same rates will also apply to other category 7 hotels like the S. Regis Princeville, Kauai, and the Gritti Palace, Venice. It will also apply to Marriott hotels in August like Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, the Ritz-Carlton New York/Central Park, and the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo.
There are some rumors coming out of Marriott that SPG all-suite hotels like the S. Regis Bora Bora or Maldives will be bookable for 20K miles starting in August, but only time will tell.
-The S. Regis Rome is currently 20K Starpoints ($435 when buying Starpoints) or 16K on 5 night stays ($348) in low season vs paid rates that can be more than $750/night. In high season the current costs are 25K Starpoints or 20K on a 5 night stay. Assuming this remains a category 6 hotel in August you will need just 16,667 Starpoints per night ($362.50 when buying Starpoints) or 13,333 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($290)
The same rates also apply for other category 6 hotels like the Sheraton Tel Aviv, the W Hong Kong, the Westin Venice, the SLS Beverly Hills, and the W Retreat Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
-The W Miami is currently 12K Starpoints ($261 when buying Starpoints) or 9.6K Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($208.80) in low season vs paid rates that can be more than $400/night. Assuming this remains a category 5 hotel in August you will need just 11,667 Starpoints per night ($253.75 when buying Starpoints) or 9,333 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($203.)
The same rates also apply for other category 5 hotels like the W Fort Lauderdale, the Royal Palm South Beach, the Sheraton Kauai Resort, the W Miami, and the W New York
-The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort is currently 10K Starpoints ($217.50 when buying Starpoints) or 8K Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($174) vs paid rates that can be more than $350/night. Assuming this remains a category 4 hotel in August you will need just 6,250 Starpoints per night ($135.93 when buying Starpoints) or 5,000 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($108.75) .
The same rates also apply for other category 4 hotels like the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa At Keauhou Bay, HI, the Four Points Miami Beach, the Sheraton Brooklyn, and the W Beijing.
-The Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale is currently 7K Starpoints ($152.25 when buying Starpoints) or 5.6K Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($121.80) vs paid rates that can be more than $250/night. Assuming this remains a category 3 hotel in August you will need just 5,833 Starpoints per night ($126.87 when buying Starpoints) or 4,666 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($108.75) .
The same rates also apply for other category 3 hotels like the Sheraton Anchorage.
-The Four Points By Sheraton Niagara Falls, NY is currently bookable for just 3K points on weekends or 4K Starpoints on weekdays ($65-$87 when buying Starpoints for 2.175 cents each) vs paid rates that can be more than $200/night.
Many other hotels are bargains with points, especially during peak travel times.
2. United miles+Marriott or SPG nights:
18,667 Starpoints can be instantly converted into 56K Marriott points, which can be transferred into 25K United miles.
Or 90K Starpoints can be instantly converted into 270K Marriott points.
With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 132K United miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.
You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.
If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 132,000 United miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.73 cents per United mile!
Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.
It’s worth noting that some Marriott agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate. That’s not a good value for the 7 night hotel certificate, but if you won’t use the hotel stay then it’s better than nothing. If you do that it will be like transferring 75K Starpoints into 132K United miles.
With United miles you can fly with no fuel surcharges on all Star Alliance airlines. Short-Haul awards are available for just 8,000 miles or you can fly in business class to Israel for 75K miles.
You can read this post for more about these packages and this post for how things should play out in August.
3. Cathay Pacific Business/First Class to Vancouver or Asia+Marriott nights:
90K Starpoints can be converted into 270K Marriott points.
With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 120K Alaska miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.
You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.
If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 120,000 United miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.8 cents per Alaska mile!
Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.
It’s worth noting that some Marriott agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate. That’s not a good value for the 7 night hotel certificate, but if you won’t use the hotel stay then it’s better than nothing. If you do that it will be like transferring 75K Starpoints into 120K Alaska miles.
Alaska’s award chart for Cathay Pacific for example is incredibly generous.
- You can use 17.5K Alaska miles for coach, 20K for premium economy, 25K for business, or 35K for first class to fly one way to or from JFK and Vancouver on Cathay Pacific.
- You can use 30K Alaska miles for coach, 35K for premium economy, 50K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Asia via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Best of all, you can get a free stopover in Hong Kong for as long as you want, even on a one-way ticket. There are no fuel surcharges.
- You can use 50K Alaska miles for coach, 55K for premium economy, 62.5K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Tel Aviv or Johannesburg via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Best of all, you can get a free stopover in Hong Kong for as long as you want, even on a one-way ticket. There are no fuel surcharges.
- You can use 22.5K Alaska miles for coach, 25K for premium economy, or 30K for business class to fly one way to or from Hong Kong and Tel Aviv on Cathay Pacific. There are no fuel surcharges.
Cathay Pacific is famous for their wonderful first class where they offer the best bed comfort, seat comfort, and pajamas in the industry. It doesn’t offer walled-in suites or the hands-on service of Singapore and it doesn’t have onboard showers like Emirates or Etihad, but I don’t think any first class can compete with Cathay’s ultra-comfy seat and bed arrangement.
With 120K Alaska miles from a package you can fly one-way in business and one-way in first class between North America and Asia.
For example you can fly from the US to Taipei and get 7 nights at a category 1-5 property there. Or fly and stay at a category 5 JW Marriott resort in Vietnam. You can even stopover in Hong Kong once or twice for as long as you want with Alaska miles. That’s perfect if you want to have custom clothing made there as you can go back to have them fitted perfectly.
Don’t want to leave the continent?
A Cathay Pacific first class flight from JFK to Vancouver is 35K miles and a Cathay Pacific business class flight is 25K miles. 120K miles would be enough for 2 people to fly there in first class and return in business class.
4. Emirates Shower Class:
Emirates A380 first class is affectionately known as “Shower Class.”
Sure, you get your own walled-in suite and access to the onboard bar.
But it’s the onboard shower that sets it apart.
A shower class flight can cost $27,000 round-trip, but with miles it’s a whole lot less. Plus Emirates has excellent award availability.
Unfortunately the options are more limited than before as Alaska Airlines has increased their mileage rates and JAL has added a fuel surcharge to Emirates awards.
For example a flight from JFK to Milan is 360K Alaska miles round-trip, but just 100K JAL miles. Unfortunately, JAL now tacks on $1,040 in fuel surcharges. You can transfer 80K Starpoints into 100K JAL miles thanks to the 25% transfer bonus. It other words by buying Starpoints at 2.175 cents each you can fly round-trip in Emirates shower class to Europe for $1,740 plus the fuel surcharges.
A flight from JFK to Dubai is 300K Alaska miles round-trip, but just 135K JAL miles. Unfortunately, JAL now tacks on $1,624 in fuel surcharges. You can transfer 110K Starpoints into 135K JAL miles thanks to the 25% transfer bonus. It other words by buying Starpoints at 2.175 cents each you can fly round-trip in Emirates shower class to Europe for $2,392 plus the fuel surcharges.
There are way to save however.
If you fly from Toronto to Dubai and back from Dubai to either NYC or Toronto the fuel surcharges will be just $936. The rate is the same 135K JAL miles.
A flight from the Maldives to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is 85K JAL miles (70K SPG) and there are only no fuel surcharges.
A flight from Tokyo to Dubai round-trip in shower class is 105K JAL miles (85K SPG) and there are only $128 in fuel surcharges.
A flight from Tokyo to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is 115K JAL miles (95K SPG) and there are only $110 in fuel surcharges.
A flight from Hong Kong to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is 115K JAL miles (95K SPG) and there are no fuel surcharges.
A flight from Sydney to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is 155K JAL miles (125K SPG) and there are only no fuel surcharges.
In other words you can use other miles to fly outbound to a destination and then use JAL miles to fly back in Emirates Shower Class while avoiding fuel surcharges.
5. ANA Suites+Marriott nights:
ANA is an incredible Japanese airline with great first class suites that have very comfortable beds and amazing service. I reviewed them here towards the end of the 4th part of my Island Hopper adventure.
You only need 110K Virgin Atlantic miles to fly round-trip from the west coast to Japan or 120K miles to fly round-trip from the east coast to Japan in first class. There are no fuel surcharges to redeem Virgin Atlantic miles for travel on ANA.
90K Starpoints can be converted into 270K Marriott points.
With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 120K Virgin Atlantic miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.
You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.
If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 120,000 Virgin miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.8 cents per Virgin mile!
Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.
It’s worth noting that some Marriott agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate. That’s not a good value for the 7 night hotel certificate, but if you won’t use the hotel stay then it’s better than nothing. If you do that it will be like transferring 75K Starpoints into 120K Virgin miles.
Here is the Virgin Atlantic award chart for travel on ANA:
Unfortunately, you do need to call Virgin Atlantic to book travel on ANA at 800-365-9500. You can search for ANA award space on United.com.
United charges a whopping 220K miles to fly round-trip from the US to Japan in ANA first class, but you can call Virgin Atlantic to book travel for a fraction of that amount:
6. Singapore Suites:
You can fly in a Singapore couples suite from JFK to Frankfurt for just 76K Singapore miles each way. Thanks to the SPG transfer bonus, you only need 61K Starpoints for 76K Singapore miles. There are no fuel surcharges.
Here is the suite Mimi and I flew in from JFK to Frankfurt en route in Paris in 2012:
The next generation of the suite looks even more amazing:
7. Etihad Shower Apartments+Marriott nights:
20K Starpoints can normally be transferred into 25K American miles. However until 5/31, 20K Starpoints will transfer into 31,250 American miles. If you buy 20K Starpoints at 2.175 cents per point that’s $435 for 31,250 AA miles or 1.392 cents per mile.
Or 90K Starpoints can be instantly converted into 270K Marriott points.
With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 120K AA miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.
You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.
If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 120,000 Virgin miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.8 cents per AA mile!
Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.
A flight from the US to Abu Dhabi or the Maldives in Etihad shower class is 115K American miles each way with no fuel surcharges.
The Etihad first class apartment is an awesome suite with an insane amount of space and there’s a shower to boot.
Because of the now defunct electronics ban, I was stuck having to take pictures with my GoPro:
And my phone:
Of course there are endless other ways to use your Starpoints where it can make sense to buy some points to reach an award redemption.
How do you use your Starpoints?
- Earn Starpoints on the new Chase Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card with a limited time 100,000 Marriott point signup bonus. Click Here to get more details on this card and compare to other hotel cards!
- Related Marriott-SPG merger posts:
- Get A 100,000 Point Signup Bonus On The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card!
- Live Blog: Follow The Marriott-Starwood Program Merger Announcement!
- 3 Starwood AMEX Cards In The New Marriott Program: A Comparison Chart Of The Good, The Bad, And The Horrific
- Comparison Chart: How Marriott’s August 2018 And February 2019 Award Chart Compares With The Current SPG And Marriott Award Charts
- Marriott Got Almost Everything Perfect, But The Starwood AMEX Cuts Are Just Too Painful
- Rack Up The Starpoints While You Still Can: There Will Be 6 Months Of Amazing Starwood Hotel Bargains!
- No Marriott, The Starwood AMEX Card Will Not Be Richer Than Ever. You Are Just Changing What I’ll Use It For
- Starwood-Marriott Merger FAQs: Answers To Your Questions About Anniversary Nights, Status From Existing Cards, And More
- The Starwood Consumer AMEX And Multiple Chase Marriott Cards Are Being Discontinued! Here’s What You Need To Know About 9 Starwood And Marriott Cards
- Will The Starwood Cards Disappear Or Lose Their Starpoints Signup Bonuses Today? Now Is The Time To Signup If You Don’t Have These Cards Yet!
- AMEX: 3 Starwood Cards Will Be Available For New Applications After The SPG-Marriott Program Merger In August
- Guesstimating Where Marriott Travel Packages Will Work In August; Take Advantage Of Marriott’s Lucrative Miles+Nights Packages Now!
- A Week Later, But No Solid Answers To 3 Contradictory Marriott-Starwood Merger Details That Everyone Wants To Know
- Marriott Clarifies Contradictory SPG Gold Information
- Roundup Of The SPG/Marriott Lifetime Status Rules; Will You Be Able To Hit Lifetime Status This Year Before The Lifetime Program Is Devalued?
Wow – awesome post. You got some serious skills.
Aww, thanks 🙂
Do you have to have a SPG card to buy and use points and is there a max you can purchase?
Thanks!
You do not need a Starwood AMEX to buy points.
The max information and a loophole around it is written in this post.
Will buying points count towards a new card min spend?
Of course.
Following…
Dan, how many members of your extended family live at your address? 😉
Not many yet, but 132K United miles+4,100 Starpoints (12.3K Marriott) for the spending+7 nights hotel for $2,050 is a real steal…
You mean +4,100 Starpoints (2x with the SPG Amex card).
I just hope I can get all the points I need before the packages go away…. Thanks as always. Chag Sameach!
Correct, edited 😀
Is transferring to United a better option than Alaska?
Is it worth buying starpoints speculatively? Also any news on hotels in Bora Bora?
Some bloggers insist that Marriott execs are saying those all-suite hotels will also be 20K in August while others are saying no way.
Conflicting info coming out of Marriott, so we may just need to wait and see. May be too late to take advantage of this by then though.
Thanks Dan! You are awesome!!
Chase Sapphire Preferred only gave me 1 point per dollar since it’s processed by Points.com. Sure on the Amex SPG you do get bonus point?
Yes, it’s a special arrangement for the SPG AMEX.
plz include that for 70k alaska you can go to israel via hong kong, im sure it will be very appreciated by a lot of followers
Added.
What’s the best way to use my points to fly business to Israel from EWR? Is it SPG transferred to Argean and booking on United?
Depends on award availability for your dates.
I don’t have Starwood or Marriott cards and no Marriott points but I have little over 16K Starwood points. What should I do with it now? They expire in 4 months . I have no plans to stay at Marriott or Starwood hotels for at least a year . I do have about 200$ Marriott gift cards. Thanks
Transfer them to a household member to extend their life.
My household is my wife but she has no cards or points! How do I transfer and what happens if I transfer? Few years ago there was trick to get th Starwood preferred plus status for free . My Starwood account still says I am preferred plus member
Open a free SPG.com account for her.
The wealth of knowledge that you have about the travel “tricks” is simply amazing. I am sure you must have had your pitt falls, over the years, but, I sincerely appreciate your blog and all that you try to do for the general public.
I am gonna bookmark this page and come back to it in 48 hours once the accounts are set up and ready to go.
May I ask, Mr. Dan! How many people can have an account at one physical address? Is there a limit to how many.
No limit.
Thanks 🙂
Once the programs merge, what happens to the Gold Starwoood status one receives through Amex platinum?
Hi Dan –
great tips as always, just wanted to mention that the JW Marriott in Phu Quoc which you often reference for redemptions has recently moved to Cat 6 — still looks like a great value, but not the Cat 5 steal it once was…
So if I want to book Marriott or starwood hotels for the end of August should I book now or wait till the programs merge in august?
So is it worth buying the points waiting until august then selling them?
@dan is it worth transferring in 120k SPG for Marriott cat 8 miles+nights now? or wait to see what categories spg hotels are put in Aug, and redeem for the package then?
Probably more advantageous to do it now.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/marriott/guesstimating-marriott-travel-packages-will-work-august-take-advantage-marriotts-lucrative-milesnights-packages-now/
Thanks
I have gold status because of the spending 30k per year, for the last 5 years. what will the effect be going forward after the merger?
You will be Gold.
Thanks
Hey Mr Dan. Trying to buy 30k points with my Starwood’s Amex but it’s not letting me. I have never bought points before and have been a cardholder for about 2 yrs or so. Am I doing something wrong?
Thank you
Call them and ask?
Cool. Thank you!
would the 5-7 night ritz 1 through 3 category work for top category spg hotels in the new chart? yes,no, or probably or probably not if you can please tell us your opinion thank you
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/marriott/guesstimating-marriott-travel-packages-will-work-august-take-advantage-marriotts-lucrative-milesnights-packages-now/
I get points not to use but to sell. Is it worth buying spg points now that they are discounted and hold on to them until the merger and resell them?
mestama not
unless you find a private buyer buyer at the last minute who would pay extra
What are Alaska redemption awards for US to Hawaii?
When I check on Alaska Airlines site flight to TLV they show fuel charges, what am I doing wrong
You need to call Alaska to book travel on Cathay Pacific.
Does Alaska allow JFK to Hong Kong (Stopover) to Mumbai for the 70K miles on Cathay? Or is Hong Kong to Mumbai a separate charge? Thank you!
is there a flight to Israel that I can book on alaska that does not stop i asia?
Dan, I know you say you’re not a prophet, but you are the closest thing we have!
I know you said that Marriott might offer a bonus on transfers to UA in Q4. You have also suggested that the miles+plus nights packages could disappear soon, too. Which do you think is going to happen first, and if/when the packages go away, do you think we will get any warning? Thanks very much.
The packages will change first. Not sure if we’ll get warning or not.
Didn’t the four points in niagra change category and it’s now 12k per night?
Not the one on the NY side.
hi i have 125k spg points any advice on the best way to book a flight from ewr to tel aviv in early October would be greatly appreciated. thank you in advance
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/all-about/getting-israel-using-starwood-starpoints-2018-ultimate-guide/
How can you buy 86.5K Starpoints? I’d like to but they limiting me to 35K! Please help!
Read the post again.
Just got the new Marriott card.how do I get the spg member number -to buy the points?
will the cash value of the spg points go down after the merger?
No
Hi- Great post! I’m wondering about this: “20K Starpoints can normally be transferred into 25K American miles. However until 5/31, 20K Starpoints will transfer into 31,250 American miles. If you buy 20K Starpoints at 2.175 cents per point that’s $435 for 31,250 AA miles or 1.392 cents per mile.” I can only see the 20k to 25k AA on the AA and the Starwood sites. How do I get to 31.250K AA miles? Thanks again.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/starwood/25-bonus-transferring-starwood-starpoints-american-effective-56-3-bonus/
Does Alaska allow JFK to Hong Kong (Stopover) to Mumbai for the 70K miles on Cathay? Or is Hong Kong to Mumbai a separate charge? Thank you!
Purchased 22k points for $500.00 at the discount rate. This converts to 66k Marriott points. For a Marriott cat 9 hotel it is 40k points or $230 per night. Seems like my $500 gets me 2 nights for cash but only 1 night with points. Is this correct.
Hi Dan,
After the SPG point will triple will the airlines and hotels increase the amount of points needed for their services?
Dan,
I apologize if this has already been noted, but if not, you might want to mention in the post that there are two waiting periods. The first is the 14 days between account opening and being able to buy points. The second is that, when transferring points beteeen two accounts at the same address, both accounts need to have been open for 30 days.
Thanks for all the valuable information. I was planning to capitalize on what you wrote and do the 270,000 marriott points with airline miles. What airline is best to use for travel from USA to Russia and Poland besides United as I cant find fare savers for that.
This is too confusing to me. ..
What should i do with current Starpoints???
Hang onto them. They’ll become more valuable in August.
Or you also mention purchasing the Nights+Flights miles before they’re devalued. Correct?
Is it best to transfer all of my starpoints now to Marriot Rewards before the August devaluation?
Makes no difference. There is no devaluation in August, points will be more valuable.
The SPG AMEX is being devalued in August as it will only earn 0.67 Starpoints per dollar instead of 1 per dollar.
Thanks!
On alaska website I found reward seats TLV-NYC-TLV only with BA. Bo Cathay.
You need to call Alaska to book travel on Cathay Pacific.
You can search for Cathay award space on Qantas.com.
Dan, do you or others know much about The Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale? It looks like a bargain, especially considering you can “legally” book 6 adults per room. Wish I could find a place like that in Miami Beach….
What the point of buying SPG points unless there is specific need for them or on in August?
Hey Mr. Dan,
So many people calling you ‘Mr. dan’ i couldn’t bear to miss out on the fun 🙂
thanks for all you do!!
dan do you reccomend going fo the 7 night certs or the 5 night certs? is there a strong probability that it will get converted to points after the merger? and would category 6 certificate really be the best option as you stated on doc?what would happen comes august and they dont convert it to points and they even stop allowing 30k category upgrades ill be stuck with a certifcate only good for category 6?thank you
Hi Dan ! Will a ritz tier 4-5 certificate gonna be able to be used at all suite hotels like stregis bora bora and if yes does that necessarily mean that I can just book it for 20k starpoints/60k Marriott and then it’s not even worth it to get the tier 4-5 cert ? If yes then I’d just get the tier 1-3 and hope it can work for cat 7… thanx! And I’m not finding any cathay flights with those rewards on alaska am I looking in the right place
I bought 30K points earlier this year for my account. Then, a few days ago, my spouse bought 30K points for his. Immediately after this second transaction, he tried gifting new 30K points to me. But he got an error message. Is this gift prohibited?
You can’t gift more miles, you would just have to transfer them.
how do you do that?
Dan, spg lurker says that on aug 1 the 7day certificates will be canceled and points will be returned. It is not clear how many points. If so, do you still advise to get these certificates now?
In ur opinion Dan what’s the best usage of starpoints in terms of getting the most bang for ur buck?