In this review of the UK Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) American Express credit card I explain why I choose this card as my preferred Amex. In a nutshell, the UK Starwood Amex Card offers a Free bonus of 30,000 SPG points. Drop me an email for a referral link for this card so that you get 33,000 Marriott/SPG Rewards instead of 30,000.
My 3 Credit Cards
My Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Credit Card is my Amex choice for spend in the UK. If you want to apply for this card and drop me an email and I can supply you with a referral to get you 33,000 points if you spend £1,000 GBP in the first 3 months of membership (you get 3,000 more points with my referral).
Of note; if you transfer 60,000 points in bulk and you will get 25,000 Avios which includes a 5,000 bonus of Avios. At my Avios valuation of £0.02 GBP, 20,000 SPG gets me £500 GBP of Avios valuing the SPG that I convert to Avios at £0.025 GBP per SPG. This values the 33,000 point free signup bonus as £275 GBP of Avios £2,000 GBP min spend*.
A BA Premium Plus American Express Card which I also use in the UK. I spend exactly £10,000 GBP on this card to spark a 2-4-1 voucher plus I get 1.5 Avios per £1 GBP spent. If you drop me an email I can supply you with a referral to get an additional 1,000 Avios when you apply (which is currently 26,000 for the Premium Plus card including the 1,000 bonus and 6,000 for the standard free card).
Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Credit Card Overview
£75 GBP annual fee.
Earn 3 points per £1 GBP spent. I value 3 points at $0.04 USD or £0.03 GBP (see details below).
APR is high and varies month by month so you should pay this card off every month. You can apply directly on Amex and you get 30,000 point bonus when you hit £1,000 GBP spend. My referral link will get you 33,000 Starpoints if you spend £2,000 GBP in the first 3 months of membership.
Other benefits?
Spend £15,000 GBP per year on the card and you will receive Gold status in Starwood Preferred Guest.
Spend £25,000 GBP per year and you receive a voucher for a free weekend night. However, this can only be used at Category 1-4 properties.
The card also includes travel inconvenience insurance covering flight cancellations and delayed baggage when flights are purchased on your card.
Why I Choose The SPG or Starwood Preferred Guest Card?
Why Do I Choose The SPG or Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Credit Card? I love the JW Marriott in Venice. This Venice hotel is a Marriott category 9 property which means I can stay here for a week on the Marriott Reward Plus Hotel & Air Package for 320,000 Marriott rewards or 106,666 SPG points (as you can transfer them over at a rate of 1SPG=3 Marriott) PLUS I get 55,000 Air Miles (in my case I collect Avios which I value at around £0.02 GBP per point making 55,000 worth £1100 GBP to me). With the Marriott Reward Plus Hotel & Air Package, 106,666 spg points will get me a stay worth €1446 EUR ($3005 USD) + £1100 GBP GBP ($1549 USD) of Avios. This values my 106,666 SPG points at $4,554 USD / £3,232 GBP = $0.042 USD /£0.03 GBP.
Alternatively, if I book 5 nights, I can book 4 nights and get the 5th free which costs 180,000 Marriott points (60K SPG) in mid-August. I could book this for cash and it would cost me €1,807 EUR (€356.4 EUR per night). This values my Marriott points at 1,807/180,000 = €0.0116 EUR or $0.0142 USD and my SPG points at $0.0426 USD.
If you want to book the Reward Plus Hotel & Air Package you can collect other airline miles. Participating Airlines also include Aeromexico, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Copa Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, GOL/Varig, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia Airlines, Virgin Atlantic.
You can also collect airline miles on different valuation on the reward schemes of Aeroflot, airberlin, Air China, Air France/KLM, Alitalia, ANA, Asia Miles, Asiana Airlines, Avianca-TACA LifeMiles, China Eastern, China Southern, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Japan Airlines, Jet Airways, Korean Air SKYPASS, LAN, Lufthansa Miles & More, Multiplus, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Saudia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways Voyager, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, SouthWest, JetBlue Airways, and Virgin America. See the Marriott Reward Plus Hotel & Air Package chart for more details.
(FYI I spend my Avios on travelling in Club Europe on outbound flights from London, largely to make use of the excellent British Airways Galleries Lounges at Heathrow and Gatwick)
What Is A SPG Starpoint (& Marriott Point) Worth?
As I outlined above, one of my preferred hotels is the JW Marriott Venice and at this property, my Marriott Rewards are valued around $0.013 USD and my SPG is valued at around $0.04 USD.
*The Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card has a representative APR on this card is 36.2% variable, including the annual fee, based on a notional £1,200 GBP credit limit. The interest rate on purchases is 19.9% variable.
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