5 Reasons to Get the Starwood Preferred Guest Card
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If you’ve been on the fence about the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, wait no longer. SPG points are some of the most valuable points around, and you can earn a pretty massive bonus just for signing up. Right now, you’ll earn 25,000 Starpoints after spending just $3,000 on the card within 90 days.
Pretty sweet, right?
Since the Starwood Preferred Guest program is in the middle of a merger with Marriott, this could easily be your last chance to get in on an increased bonus. And remember, these points are good for more than hotel stays because you can also transfer your points to more than 30 airlines or book one of Starwood’s “Nights & Flights” deals. There are many of the best travel credit card offers out there that you should check out as well!
5 Reasons to get the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
If you don’t have the Starwood Preferred Guest card yet, here are 5 reasons you should consider getting it now:
The welcome offer is fantastic.
Like I already mentioned, the welcome offer is now 25,000 points when you spend just $3,000 on your card within 90 days. If both spouses get this card, that’s an easy 50,000 Starpoints that could be used in a ton of fun and exciting ways. More on that in a minute.
The annual fee is waived the first year.
If you hate paying fees like I do, you’ll be happy to hear that the annual fee on this card is waived the first year. That means you can earn the points and try out the card for twelve full months before you commit.
Starwood has awesome properties worldwide.
If you want to stay in some awesome hotels, the Starwood Preferred Guest® program is a keeper! We’ve used Starpoints in several really awesome properties – from the Park Lane Sheraton Hotel in London, England, to the Westin Grand Cayman Resort & Spa. We’re also using Starpoints for several positioning stays at the Four Points by Sheraton Chicago O’Hare Airport this year. This property costs only 4,000 points per night during the week, which is a steal if you’re flying out of O’Hare early the next morning like we often do. Plus, you can use Starpoints to stay at Disney properties!
See also: These Disney World Properties Let Your Family Stay Free
This card may not be around forever.
With the merger between Marriott and Starwood properties underway, it’s hard to tell if this card or offer will be around forever. It’s fairly likely that both programs will merge into one at some point, although no one knows for sure. Regardless, American Express has a once-per-lifetime rule that allows each person to have each of their rewards cards only once.
You get other free perks.
In addition to earning 25,000 points after you spend just $3,000 on your card within 90 days, there are other perks that make this card an exceptionally good deal. For starters, you get free BOINGO WiFi at more than 1,000,000 location worldwide. In addition, you also get free, upgraded WiFi during stays at Starwood properties. Lastly, this card comes with no foreign transaction fees, meaning it is the perfect card to use during your trips abroad.
The Bottom Line
There are plenty of reasons to love the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, and its new welcome offer makes it more attractive than ever. Whether you want to score free hotel stays or earn points you can transfer to your favorite airline, this card can be an valuable addition to your wallet. And with the annual fee waived the first year, you really have nothing to lose.
Do you have the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express? What is your favorite Starwood property?
I’ll definitely look into this card. Credit card fees are such a hard thing for me to swallow, but we do want to do more travel hacking. Thanks for always having so much information to share!
No annual fee the first year, so that’s a good thing!
I love your credit card rewards articles. You’re one of the few finance bloggers that doesn’t shy from writing about them. Thank you!
We use this card; it’s a great one! And this is a great offer. I’ve found that even though our expenses are pretty low, we are able to meet this minimum, which is not true some other great rewards cards. It’s so convenient to have so many free hotel stays available when we’re traveling.
Such perfect timing for us. Signing up this month!
I’m so confused!! I have been trying to decide on my first hotel based credit card. Currently I only have a CSP card that I use constantly. There are a few great “highest ever” offers for cards right now. Which is best for an occasional (once yearly, or less) traveler? I have been considering Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and Starwood. Any suggestions?
Amy!
Thanks for writing!
The Starwood 35K offer is the highest bonus this card has ever offered. 35K probably doesn’t sound like a lot of points, but it is when you consider that hotels start at around 3,000 points per night! You can also stay at really nice properties for 7,000 points per night and up, plus your 5th night is free when you book with points in any Category 3-7 property. The other good thing about the Starwood card is that the annual fee is waived the first year. If you’re looking for one hotel card and one only, I would go with SPG.
With that being said, the Marriott card has an 80K offer right now. The annual fee is not waived, however. Still an awesome deal, but Marriott frequently has 80K (one per year or so), so you could probably get that later. I hope that helps!
Thanks Holly! I think I will jump on the Starwood card at the last minute and hope I can put the required spend on it before the 3 months is up!
Awesome! I think the offer is live for the rest of the month, so you have a few weeks left. Don’t forget, though! =)
How often do you usually wait before signing up for a new card? We just received our bonus from the CITI card and now ready for a new card! I’m looking at this one and the Chase Sapphire. Which one tdo you like best?
Hey Valerie!
We usually wait 91 days on applications for one of us. But your spouse can get either (or vice versa) if it has been more than 91 days for them!
If I had to choose, I would probably get the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Higher bonus and better transfer partners in my opinion. Then again, the Starwood Amex has never had a signup bonus worth 35K before, so that is a really awesome deal! Starpoints go really far.
You really can’t go wrong with either card, but I tend to believe that CSP is the best card all around.
I think it has probably been exactly 90 days –exactly how long it has taken to rack up the bonus points on the other cards! I’m starting to get a bit nervous about the annual fees!
I hear ya, but don’t stress. You can cancel after 12 months if you don’t want to pay to keep the card. That’s what I do with like 80% of cards. I do keep the Chase Sapphire Preferred though, because we use the trip cancellation/interruption insurance and primary auto rental coverage! Plus I am a Chase enthusiast! HAHA