Starwood Preferred Guest is a hotels rewards program with over 960 hotels participating that includes such brands as Sheraton, W Hotels, St. Regis and Westin. You can earn points by spending money at SPG branded hotels or through the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card.
Initially I joined and signed up for the American Express SPG card in June 2009 because I figured it was a better deal than the Citi AAdvantage card. The Amex SPG card gives you 1 SPG points for every dollar and the Citi AAdvantage card gives you 1 mile for every dollar of spending. At this point I wasn’t planning on staying at any of the SPG hotels much but then I discovered I wouldn’t even have to in order to make participating in this program worth my while.
SPG points are transferable to airline frequent flier programs. SPG points are transferable to numerous airline frequent flier programs (including American Airlines) usually at a 1:1 ratio. However if you transfer 20,000 spg points you’ll get an 5,000 point bonus. Therefore this makes every spg point worth 1.25 miles when transferred to American Airlines. The annual fee for this card is only $45 compared to the $85 Citi AAdvantage card. I don’t plan on transferring the points anytime soon though since I find SPG points get you more for your money when spent on hotel rooms.
The hotels are pretty swanky and points give you great value for them. Most of the hotels in the SPG are brands such as W hotels, Sheraton, and Westin. From experience I can tell you most of these hotels are very comfortable and pleasant hotels to stay at.
Recently I just stayed at the Boston Sheraton for 4000 points + $60/night since you have the option of paying for rooms with cash, points or cash & points. The cheapest room at this hotel for my dates would’ve been $215 after taxes and fees per night. I’m getting about 3.7 cents out of every point which is a good deal for me.
The cheapest room at another hotel I would’ve been able to get in the Boston area was $67 + taxes and fees and judging by the reviews and pictures I’m sure it would’ve been nowhere as pleasant as the Sheraton Boston.
Who should try out SPG? If you’re like me and was previously earning miles on a airline card such as the Citi AAdvantage card it makes perfect sense to switch over to SPG and apply for the Amex SPG branded card. It’s a lower annual fee and more for every dollar you spend. If you enjoy traveling and would like to stay at nice hotels for a fraction of the cost then SPG might be for you too.
Who isn’t SPG for? If you’re someone that doesn’t travel much or doesn’t spend enough to justify a $45 annual fee. If you travel once in awhile but don’t go to areas with SPG hotels or fly on airlines in which SPG points are transferable the rewards program might not be for you either.
What are some drawbacks to SPG? Hotels like Sheraton will charge you for things like internet access in your room while cheaper hotels generally don’t. The reasoning is because they cater to business travelers who don’t watch costs as they are travelling on someone else’s dime. Cheaper hotels catering to small business owners and budget travelers offer free wifi in room beccause they know that their customers are very price conscious and would mind paying a fee for internet access.
Starwood has only 960+ hotels in their program while the Hilton chain has over 3,000 hotels. I haven’t been to a destination yet without an SPG hotel but this may be an issue for some people. Look at destinations you’d like to visit and see if SPG has any hotels there. Just use the spg.com website and type in your destinations.
Find the Starwood Preferred Guest program at spg.com.
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