LIMITED TIME: 35,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus For Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Via Referral

The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express cards have been staples in my wallet for over a decade.  I carry both the personal and business version of the credit card for different reasons.  I’ll go over that shortly, but here’s the current offer:

• Earn 25,000 Starpoints when you sign-up for the card (via referral) and make $6,000 in purchases in the first 3 months you have the card.
• Earn an additional 10,000 Starpoints when you spend an additional $4,000 within the first 6 months you have the card.

When I look at the publicly available offers, this is 10,000 points higher.  SPG did have a 35,000 point offer earlier this year, but I haven’t seen it come back.

This offer appears to be a referral offer.  I believe I still have a few spots to refer people if anyone is interested in the personal or business card.  If I’m out of referrals, I’m also happy to manage this for readers who want to earn points for referrals.

Don’t leave your e-mail address in the comments, since that can lead to getting you spammed (not by me, by bots).  But, do leave a comment that you’re looking to refer people.  I’ll be able to see your e-mail address and I can match people up who need referrals.

If you need a referral to one of the cards, leave a comment below and I’ll get you one through me or another reader.

The referral offer expires November 1, 2017.

Why SPG AMEX?

This is one of the “MacGyver” cards I frequently recommend for folks who want to travel for free or cheap, but don’t have a good way to collect lots of points.  The SPG program provides an incredible amount of flexibility, similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Starpoints are one of the most valuable points I collect.  There are a few reasons for that:

• Airline transfers are extremely lucrative.  They transfer at a 1:1 ratio, which is unheard of for other hotel programs.  Transfer 20,000 Starpoints to an airline and they’ll add 5,000 additional miles for a total of 25,000.
• Hotel redemptions cost fewer points than some of the other chains for truly exceptional hotels.  In some cases, you can earn other hotel points more quickly.  But, I’ve found that there are a lot of good hotels in the SPG system for 10,000 points or less a night, and some truly exceptional properties you just don’t see in other chains.
• They offer some unbelievable experiences you can redeem points for.  An example is the tennis lesson with Andre Agassi I was able to arrange for my wife.

It Can Really Be Worth Getting Both

Both cards have specific attributes that you might find useful.

You can earn Starpoints for all your purchases and enjoy benefits like no foreign transaction fees, Boingo wifi and a head start on elite status.  But the business card also offers access to the Sheraton Club lounges even when you’re not staying in a club room.  You can also get OPEN savings (like 5% off of FedEx shipments).  And, $30,000 in spending will get you SPG Gold status.

Since both cards earn a head start to elite status, you can double dip on the stays and nights earned from having the credit cards.

The Final Two Pennies

I’m still not sure what’s going to happen to the SPG Amex long-term.  With Marriott and Starwood completing their merger, it’s highly likely they’ll keep only one of their credit card relationships (Chase issues Marriott’s co-branded credit cards).

If Chase wins out in that battle, then you’d miss the opportunity to earn the bonus for these Amex cards.  Earning sign-up bonuses is a big key to stockpiling points if you’re not a frequent traveler.  If these cards go away, you lose a great opportunity to stock up on points that can earn you a great vacation.  I thought when this offer went away in February that would be the last time we’d see it this high.  There’s still no announced end date, but I expect the ability to apply for this card will go away at some point.

Given that this is the highest sign-up bonus I can ever recall for these cards, you should seriously think about applying for one, if not both.

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