New Starwood American Express Card promotion

The Interwebz (well, at least the travel blogs and forums) are abuzz with the new Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) American Express Card promotion. That’s because the sign-up bonus has been temporarily increased from 25,000 to 30,000 points through September 4. Depending on how you use the points, a 30,000 bonus is worth anywhere from $600 to more than $1,000.

Here is public link to sign up for the Personal Card.

The public link for the Business Card is still showing a 25,000-point bonus, but there are referral links available through various bloggers for 30,000 points.

Starwood hotels include:

• Westin
• Sheraton
• Four Points by Sheraton
• W
• Le Meridian
• The Luxury Collection
• St. Regis
• Aloft
• Element 

Under the terms of this promotion, you can receive 10,000 bonus Starpoints after your first purchase and and additional 20,000 points after spending $5,000 in six months. The annual fee is waived for the first year and $65 thereafter.

 

Here's a few reasons why the Starwood card is considered one of the best travel cards to have in your wallet:

SPG award chart--free nights start at 2,000 points

• No blackout dates on free night awards. That means if a standard room is available, it’s yours.
• Low redemption rates. Weekend nights at Category 1 properties start at 2,000 points (3,000 for weekdays). That's much lower than lowest the award nights at other chains, such as the Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott.
• The Cash & Points option provides flexibility to redeem for award nights at most hotels and resorts worldwide using a combination of cash and Starpoints, starting at just 1,200 Starpoints and $25.
• 5th Night Free. Redeem four nights at Category 3-7 hotels and your 5th consecutive night is free.
• Airline transfers. Starpoints can be transfer on a 1:1 ratio to lots of different airlines. And for every 20,000 points transferred within the same transaction, Starwood will automatically add another 5,000 points.

 

I don’t post about all of the new credit card offers, but I am posting this because I plan to apply for it. I did previously say I was done with new credit cards for this year, but I forgot about the temporary bonus increase of the SPG that I read would happen this summer.

Spending $5,000 in six months is steep for me, but I know I can come up with some creative ways to make it happen. It averages out to just over $833 a month, so I will be transferring all of my regular expenses to this card. I'm nervous, but hopeful about getting approved for this card. I have a fairly high credit score, but relatively low income and I've opened a few other cards this year.

You can apparently open a personal and business card at the same time for 60,000 points, but that means you will need to spend $10,000 in six months. I'll be sticking with only the personal card for now.