I just found about the new deal at spg.com with 10'000 points upon approval and one stay at Starwood property so I went ahead and applied. Got instant approval for $3000!! I wanted to apply back when they had the 10000 bonus but hesitated. This time I did not want loose the chance again. My scores are very low 700's
I missed 10000 points when I applied but I got 8000cl about 3 months ago when I traded in my hilton honors...
Willgator, When you converted to Starwood from Hilton, did they charge you an annual fee? Did you ask them to give you a point bonus? I have a Hilton Hhonors, but I'm thinking of going for Starwood, since Hilton just devalued the rewards system so dramatically.
Re: Re: Amex Starwood Platinum Approved! You will LOVE Starwood-- they are the best company I have ever dealt with-- awesome customer service, wonderful benefits. They are great. Kicking off with those 10000 points, and using your card a lot, a not-unreasonable goal is to reach 60K points, which through Nights & Flights will get you 5 free nights at a quality hotel plus 50,000 airline miles. Hard to beat. Everybody has their own fav Starwood properties, but I personally love the W Hotels. Congratulations!
Re: Re: Re: Amex Starwood Platinum Approved! Wow. That's horrible. I am going to exhaust my remaining points and switch over to Starwood.
Congratulations, guys! I notice that the Starwood card has a $30 annual fee, very reasonable compared to some rewards cards...
Starwood keeps winning awards for customer service. Unlike the typical snotty and/or clueless reps we constantly deal with, the SPG reps act as if they actually CARE about customers. I'm pretty addicted to earning rewards now and IMHO Starwood is the best. What sets them apart from other companies that sometimes offer wonderful service (like Amex) is their consistency. I've never had a doofus yet. (and NO, they don't pay me, although I have received a couple comp upgrades in the last couple of years. It's difficult for me to stay at an other-than Starwood property now) Cheers! Calypso
Approved for $2000! But the 10,000 points aren't automatic for me. I get: 4000 bonus points off the bat. 1000 bonus points for the first stay within the year. 500 bonus points up to 10 stays in the first year for each subsequent stay, until 10,000 total points are reached.
For future potential Starwood holders, just keep watching for those deals. The one I posted here in Feb was even better-- 5000 for 1st purchase-- 2000 for 1st stay, and 1000 for each of next 3 stays. Somebody on FlyerTalk recently asked the question-- how much would Starwood Platinum membership be worth to you and it got me thinking. They pointed out that relatively cheap deals (50/night) are available periodically at Sheratons. 25 nights at $50 would only be $1250. I am *almost* crazy enough to do it. If they treat me so well and I am only a lowly Gold, I can only imagine how cool it would be to be Platinum. BTW, in case you didn't know-- Starwood Preferred Gold membership is given to all Amex Plat card holders (one of things that makes the $395/annual worth it IMHO. The other big ones for me are Delta Crown Room access and Hertz Gold membership.) The Amex Starwood card also just began one of their first ever double point promotions. Unfortunately it was targeted and I wasn't on the list. I wonder why they wouldn't offer it to all card holders (like the Delta card) It seems like getting customers to use the card is a good thing. Hope everyone is having a fantastic Sunday. Unfortunately I am supposed to be working on my computer today (hence my procrastination) Oh well-- back to work. Cheers-- Calypso
20,000 POINTS = 25,000 AIR MILES They give you a BONUS of 5,000 miles... 1.25 POINTS PER $1.00 FIRST YEAR $0.00 SECOND YEAR $30.00 NOT THAT I NEED ANOTHER CARD!!! NOT THAT I AM HAPPY WITH AMEX...
Hi George- I personally have a love-hate relationship with Amex. Most of the time, I love them, since they have the best (IMHO) cards out there with the most benefits I can use. And occasionally I still get an awesome customer service rep that reminds me why Amex had its stellar reputation for service. But cost-cutting measures? and other business constraints have resulted in some HORRIBLE phone people these days. Not rude so much as incompetent and clueless. Sigh... I still love their cards though. And (don't we all love to play this game?) *think* I would probably say yes if they invited me to get a black card (though I would have to hide it from everyone in my family who would consider me crazy and profligate!)
