Starwood Preferred Guest is running a solid 35% discount on buying Starpoints until 20 July. These points can be used for high-end expensive hotel stays, or can be transferred to one of their many partner frequent flyer programs.
Why this is a good deal
You can find value in the usually inaccessible currencies for points purchasing like Velocity, Asia Miles and KrisFlyer, all of whom partner with Starwood.
Also, with the merger of Starwood and Marriott moving forward next month, it is worth understanding that the SPG program is going through a range of changes. Prices on bookings made between August and December 2018 (even for later dates) at some Starwood properties will be significantly cheaper than they currently are. Read our full guide to the merger to find out more.
Some St. Regis properties are among the luxury hotels temporarily becoming over 40% cheaper
Al Maha, Dubai will also be 40% cheaper until December 2018!
Save Starwood sweetening with a last-minute offer between 21 and 31 July before the changes come into effect, this will be the last chance for you to buy Starpoints. In August, Starpoints will be automatically converted at the ratio of 1 Starpoint = 3 points in the new program.
The current Starpoints promotion
The maximum purchase is 30,000 points (which is the limit for each calendar year) for US$682.50. The deal runs until 20 July.
Discounts are tiered as follows:
- 500 to 3,000 Starpoints: no discount
- 5,000 to 30,000 Starpoints: 35% discount
At the 35% discount level, this yields a cost of 2.275 US cents per Starpoint, or if all 20,000 points are transferred to airline miles with the 5,000 point bonus, 1.82 US cents per airline mile/point at 25,000 miles.
You’ll need to have an SPG account that is at least 14 days old to take advantage of this deal—sign up here.
Also note that buying Starpoints does not code as travel spend on a credit card and that these points expire after 12 months of inactivity in your account—read how to prevent your points from expiring in this guide.
Offer history
| Date | Discount/bonus (%) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| June-July 2018 | 35 | Highest public offer |
| April-May 2018 | 35 | Highest public offer |
| January-March 2018 | 35 | Highest public offer |
| November-December 2017 | 35 | Highest public offer |
| June-July 2017 | 35 | Highest public offer |
| March 2017 | 30 | |
| November 2016 | 50 | Highest targeted offer |
| June 2016 | 30 | |
| March 2016 | 25 | |
| December 2015 | 25 | |
| September 2015 | 20 | Lowest public offer |
| May 2015 | 25 | |
| December 2014 | 25 | |
| May 2014 | 25 | |
| Average | 30.71% |
Using Starpoints to transfer into airline miles/points
Starwood Preferred Guest has the widest range of airline partners out there, including Velocity, KrisFlyer and Asia Miles—but not Qantas Frequent Flyer, however, under the new program with Marriott, Qantas will be a transfer partner. The full list of transfer partners and ratios is below.
For all 1:1 transfer partners, for a transfer of 20,000 points you’ll also get a bonus of 5,000 additional airline points or miles, which really makes it worth targeting that 20,000 point transfer as the sweet spot.
| Frequent Flyer Programs | Exchange Ratio - Starpoints:Airline Miles |
|---|---|
| Aegean Airlines | 1:1 |
| Aeromexico Club Premier | 1:1 |
| Aeroplan/Air Canada | 1:1 |
| Air China Companion | 1:1 |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints | 65:1 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | 1:1 |
| Alitalia MileMiglia | 1:1 |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club | 1:1 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 1:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 |
| Asiana Airlines | 1:1 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 1:1 |
| China Eastern Airlines | 1:1 |
| Delta Air Lines SkyMiles | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 |
| Etihad Airways | 1:1 |
| Flying Blue | 1:1 |
| Gol Smiles | 2:1 |
| Hainan Airlines | 1:1 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 1:1 |
| Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank | 1:1 |
| Jet Airways | 1:1 |
| Korean Air | 1:1 |
| LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass | 1:1:5 |
| Lufthansa Miles and More | 1:1 |
| Qatar Airways | 1:1 |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines | 1:1 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 |
| Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus | 1:1 |
| topbonus loyalty | 1:1 |
| United Mileage Plus | 2:1 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1:1 |
| Virgin Australia | 1:1 |
Example uses of Starpoints
I’ve used Starpoints to top up a range of my frequent flyer accounts for redemptions, including American Airlines, Velocity, Asia Miles and KrisFlyer. I’ve also redeemed Starpoints for exclusive events through SPG Moments, and for hotel stays.
Using my Amex points for an F1 experience: SPG Moments package at the 2014 Melbourne Grand Prix
The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa Review – Langkawi, Malaysia
The use for airline redemptions is too broad to cover off in one guide, but for starters have a read of the following guides to give you some ideas:
- The best value frequent flyer program redemptions – the programs and routes to target
- And here’s the full set of guides to buying frequent flyer miles for cheap Business or First Class travel. If you’re buying Starpoints, you’re potentially buying airline miles, so the same tips apply.
Limitations on purchase and transfer amounts
Starwood put a 30,000 limit on the maximum number of points per SPG account you can purchase per (calendar) year, so at first glance, it seems like this promotion can’t be used for large purchase amounts.
However, one way to get around this restriction is to use household points transfers, where SPG allows members who have the same address on their account the ability to transfer between accounts.
You would purchase miles for each account individually, and then request a ‘household’ transfer, which can be made online or over the phone. Thanks to One Mile at a Time for this tip.
There are also techniques to follow to maximise the amount of airline miles you can receive from SPG transfers.
There’s a limit of 79,000 miles that be transferred out of your account per 24 hours, and given that Starwood only awards the 5,000 point bonus for 20,000 point transfers, you’ll miss out on one chunk of 5,000 bonus points if you transfer the maximum 79,999 Starpoints.
As a result, the transfer sweet spot is 60,000 SPG points to 75,000 airline miles, so to maximise the bonus, transfer no more than 60,000 points (to a single program) per 24 hours.
Some transfer bonus examples come out as follows:
10k SPG = 10k airline miles
20k SPG = 25k airline miles (20k + 5k bonus)
30k SPG = 35k airline miles
40k SPG = 50k airline miles (40k + 10k bonus)
50k SPG = 60k airline miles
60k SPG = 75k airline miles (60k + 15k bonus)
70k SPG = 85k airline miles
79,999 SPG = 94,999 miles (79k + 15k bonus)
Summing up
Starpoint purchases can be an excellent way to top up an overseas frequent flyer account, where miles or points are otherwise hard to come by. The sheer volume of their transfer partners yields a lot of opportunities to use these points.
You can also leverage them into cheaper hotel stays, but that’s completely dependent on the nightly rate a hotel is charging on a given night, versus what they want to charge in Starpoints.
There may be an opportunity for your specific hotel stay plans, so check on that if you have any stays coming up.
Finally, stocking up on Starpoints prior to the merger with Marriott is a great way to take advantage of new redemption opportunities.
just wondering what the transfer options will be after the merger. Starpoints are great because they can be transferred to so many airline FF programs, but Marriott seems to be much more limited in its options. Do you know which transfer options will remain from September on?
What is it that leads you to believe this may be the “last change to buy SPG points before the merger”? After reading your merger guide, I don’t see anything that indicates the ability to buy SPG points may end. Can you clarify for me please?
Thanks very much.
So if you transfer 20000 starpoints that would transfer 25000 aadvantage points and then the 25% bonus would be calculated on the 25000?
I’m looking at finding flights from Melbourne to Beijing. This would be 40k one way business hence 80k return.
Therefore transferring 54k starpoints i would get 80k?
Althought at that near point to 60k would it be more worth it to transfer 60k and then get 93750 points?
https://storefront.points.com/spg/en-US/buy?promoCode=DISLIMINC
Can anyone assist me here.
If i were to buy SPG Points, should i transfer those points to JAL, Etihad or Korean Air? Which one is better? Because next year im planning to fly Europe probably First Class/Biz Class from Kuala Lumpur. Also im travelling with a friend.
Thank you and best regards..
https://www.topcashback.com/points/
Will wait and see before putting in a “Disputed Transaction”.
Will probably wait until December to buy the miles (I have calculated the cost at 2.4c with 25% bonus).
It may be worth a note in the article to let people know the Elevate is no longer an SPG partner. I read this and thought it would be a great chance to get some cheap elevate points to redeem on VA, and nearly got caught out. Perhaps remove the Elevate tag too.
If i use my Amex explorer card to purchase SPG miles from points.com, will it be considered as cash advance or will i still get amex points for the purchase ?
It’s not a cash advance, it’s a purchase. You should still get MR points, in the case of Explorer, it should give you 2 pts per dollar (don’t forget you’ll pay FX fees).
Cheers
“Convert your Starpoints to Etihad Guest Miles at a rate of 20,000 points to 5,000 miles”
The statement on the other page must be about the transfer bonus – 20,000 transferred points = 5,000 mile bonus.
All of my household members are new, so I am not able to buy the points for them. Can someone help me to buy 90k points? Please let me know. Thanks.
Regards,
That it is plausible to buy SPG points and transfer to JAL frequent flyer program (1:1) without incurring any transactions fees. Also, is there any expiry for holding these points in SPG accounts?
In addition, does anyone know where i can find the rewards chart that indicates the point/mileage required to redeem a return PE/Business/First Class from SYD to NRT. Based on one of the comment earlier looks like only 80000 mile is required for first class return (essentially only 65000 Starwood point) which is extremely good value with approximately AUD$2500 spend
Flew with JAL’s PE last December and is very satisfied with their product though had to do a massive transfer from Narita to Itami.
Thanks in advance.
As for the required points, just go to JAL’s website and check their awards chart because the cost is based on distance (as with oneworld airlines in general).
If you have an Amex and time you can accumulate JMB points by converting to Starwood then JMB without the need to purchase Starwood.
For ex – If I were to buy 20,000 star points to top up my Velocity A/c (equals 25,000 VFF miles), with the current 30% discount, I will be up for USD $490, ie 643 AUD as of today’s rate.
If you were to buy 25,000 VFF miles directly from Velocity, it will cost you $677, approx. $34 more. Now if you were using a card with foreign currency transaction fee (most AMEX cards), that margin is further whittled down.
Mind you, if SPG offered a 50% discount, then you are looking at approx. 458 AUD for same 25,000 miles, which is significantly cheaper than buying direct from Velocity.
Hope this helps.
So all in all 19,000 SPG -> 57,000 Mariott->31,250 United = all set for a single J to South east Asia from Aus. Effectively 19,000 SPG (with 50% bonus) is around US$333 = AUD434.
And left over with 1,250 United and 333 SPG (1000 Mariott). Beat That Hack
Thanks as always for a great public service!
As ever, the alternative to purchase points via Amex at $25 per 1000 needs to be considered before rushing into such promotions (assuming you have an appropriate Amex card.
It’s worth pointing out that SPG points are purchased in US dollars and the true cost of SPG points/ bonus offer purchases vary with the exchange rate.
A few years ago when the Aussie dollar was 1:1 with the US dollar this was the cheapest way I could find to buy points, but now that each US dollar costs around $1.35 Australian, I don’t think it’s such a good deal. The cheapest way I found when calculating the exact value recently was to buy points for $25 AUD from amex (by phoning them on the number on the back of my American Express issued credit card), which gives 1,000 points transferrable 1:1 to most frequent flyer programs.
As my husband pointed out, you can buy a business ticket almost half price this way if you wanted to!
Here is the calculation for a 25,000 points purchase (using today’s exchange rate on XE.com)
-Buying 25 times $25 per thousand points on on an American Express issued credit card costs $625 AUD
Buying 20,000 points on SPG which convert to 25,000 points on transfer costs $35 US or $47.40 per thousand- usually $700 US/ $948 AUD and with the discount of 25% – $525 US or $711 AUD
So it is close but no banana! Also SPG limits an annual purchase to 30,000 points, etc etc
my calculation is
25,000 starwood points = 490USD or 650$AUD (0.026$ per point)
25,000 AMEX points x 0.75 = 18750 airline points for 625$AUD ($25 per 1000) (0.033$ per point)
So this starwood deal is still cheaper so long as your credit card is the one as I indicate above.
You might find that using a Coles/ Myer or Woolworths Wish gift card with no charge is better value than a Coles Mastercard for getting triple points out of your Platinum Edge card. The value of points is basically $25 per 1,000 when you buy them by phoning American Express on the number on the back of your card – however by paying $5 per 100 for a 1200 points purchase via a Coles Mastercard you have paid $60- which is a rate of $50 per 1,000 points i.e. twice as much. Sorry!
By the way, I’ve not found a way of buying either a Coles or Australia Post Mastercard with my amex card- they’ve always told me I can’t buy credit with credit. I’ll go and try Coles again, thanks for the tip!
Given the previous trend, would you think that they will offer a 25% off for Dec 2015? Have an upcoming Europe trip in April 2016.
One other way to get great value, is transferring your points over to Alaska mileage plan for 25k pts.
Sydney to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific business class is only 30k and there’s many ways to get the additional 5k Alaska miles. e.g. Rocket miles has a promotion to get additional Alaska pts for first time users.
https://www.rocketmiles.com/alaskaair-3k-bonus
Or you can simply transfer MR pts to SPG to make up the 5k.
Is it possible to transfer points from my father’s SPG rewards account to my personal JMB (Japan Mileage Bank) account? If so, would this extra 5,000 points per 20,000 transferred apply?
Thank you.
Award spaces are still quite plenty for the next 3 months. Good for a luxurious ski trip!
Would you consider ‘transferring to Velocity’ from SPG points is a good move? Or better off transferring to other programs like SIA? Cheers