SPG's Latest Promotion

Starwood Preferred Guest is out with their latest promotion.  You must register by 10/15/16 and complete stays between 8/15/16 and 11/15/16.  The promotion may be targeted and it's possible that some may see a different offer.  You can check to see if you are eligible here.

 My offer provides 2,000 bonus SPG points after the second stay, 2.500 after the third and 3,000 after the fourth up to a total of 7,500 bonus points for four stays.

SPG promotion T's & C's

I already have 3 stays lined up during the promotion so will earn an easy 4,500 bonus points for stays I was going to complete anyway.  Is it worth it to mattress run for the additional 3,000 points?  I value the points at around $75 so even at a rate of $65 (which is possible but unlikely in Denver) there still isn't much value in doing so.

In that case, I'd earn 250 points for being a Gold Member, 5x points for being elite and putting the stay on my SPG Amex and 3,000 bonus points.  That is 3,580 points valued around $90.  Likely not worth the incremental time but if you were short on stay credits and could pick up the 3,000 bonus points, it might be worth it.

My points from my second stay during the promo in Istanbul already posted.

Review: Sheraton JFK Airport

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Sheraton JFK Airport
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge JFK
Turkish Airlines 777-300ER Business Class New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Istanbul Arrivals Lounge
St. Regis Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Business Class Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA 777-300ER First Class Tokyo (NRT) to Houston
American Express Centurion Lounge Houston (IAH)

We had a debate a few days ago about the merits of landing at Newark at 1:30AM and staying at a Newark airport hotel (as we had planned) and taking an Uber to JFK in the morning or suck it up, take the Uber at night when traffic would be light and stay at a JFK hotel.  JFK was the more expensive option but likely the most logical.

So we changed our plan and used an Amex offer ($50 off Sheraton spend of $250 or more) to bring the cost of the room down to $200.  We arrived around 2:45AM and left around 9:30AM it was a quick (and expensive) stay.  We could have used 10,000 points but I'm generally getting 2.5 cents+ per SPG point so decided to pay cash.  I did earn almost 250 SPG points from the Uber right from Newark to the hotel (3x points during SPG stays for Gold members).

I didn't take any pictures of the hotel given the short stay, but I would recommend it.  The room was clean, recently redone, and the bathroom was actually pretty nice for a Sheraton.  The best part (for me) was that the hotel sat directly under the flight path so I watched planes from bed this morning which is a real treat.  Some of you may find that as a con but definitely a pro in my book.

The shuttle (shared with the Hilton Garden Inn next door) was quick and efficient (leaves every 30 min 24 hours a day) and took about 8 minutes to get to Terminal 1.

Planning & Booking: I'm Going Going, Back Back to Maldives, Maldives

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel
Turkish Airlines 777-300ER Business Class New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Istanbul Arrivals Lounge
St. Regis Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Business Class Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA 777-300ER First Class Tokyo (NRT) to Houston
American Express Centurion Lounge Houston (IAH)

We are just a few weeks away from our RTW adventure to Istanbul, Maldives, Singapore, and Tokyo.  This will be our second RTW trip in the last year and we're really excited about how this trip came together.  If you're interested in reading in previous updates, check out the latest introductory post.

Lots of flying but looks worth it

Hotels:

As it stands now, we have 9 hotel nights planned.  We needed a Newark overnight and I ended up booking the Marriott Renaissance Newark Airport for 25,000 Marriott Rewards points.  This ended up being a phenomenal use of points as the the hotel is selling for $249/night which comes to $288/night with taxes.  Getting more than 1 cent per Marriott point is amazing.

Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel Rates

In Istanbul, we ended up booking the St. Regis through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts since we really need the ability to check-in early and in theory, we should be able to get in the room at noon or earlier.  The rate came to $251 USD with taxes.  That includes the early check-in, likely room upgrade, and $100 food and beverage credit.  While we could have certainly saved money by staying at the Park Hyatt ($180 USD/night) or a few other options, we wanted to checkout a new property in Istanbul and figured the rooftop Spago would be a nice way to end the day and burn our $100 credit.

St. Regis Istanbul Rooftop Views

SPG Amex Bonus Points Posted

Earlier in the week, I posted about the 2,500 bonus point offer for adding an authorized user to a SPG Amex card.

Good news - the points have already posted to my account.  I added Emily as an authorized user on Saturday (7/23).  The points were in my account on 7/26.

This is a no-brainer promotion.  While the offer is supposed to be targeted, I didn't receive any direct communication from Starwood or American Express and the points still posted to my account.  So definitely worth giving it a shot for 2,500 SPG points.

2,500 SPG Points for Adding an Authorized User

Starwood and American Express are offering 2,500 bonus SPG points for adding an authorized user to your personal (not available on the business version) SPG Amex card.

This direct link should work.  Login with your Amex credentials and you'll be taken to a screen where you can view the offer and input information for your authorized user.  

2,500 SPG bonus points for adding an authorized user

Unfortunately, I'm the only one in our household that currently has the card (have since 2004) but I've already taken advantage of the offer by adding Emily to my card.

Bonus terms

I value 2,500 SPG points at around $55.  Keep in mind that 2,500 SPG points converts to ~3,100 airline miles so this is a strong offer for what amounts to 5 minutes of time.

SPG Business Card Increased Referral Bonus

I've written extensively about the American Express SPG card.  Amex also issues a business card version (which I currently hold) which offers most of the same benefits as the personal version.  The business version also provides club access when staying at Sheraton properties which can be a useful benefit.  While I'm content with my SPG Lifetime Gold status, when I was working on achieving Platinum status, the extra 2 stays/5 nights towards elite status were super helpful.

Amex is currently offering an increased referral bonus (up from 5,000 points) of 10,000 points for each approved referral.  That is a pretty outstanding deal considering a couple of referrals could net you a night at a St. Regis.

The referral offer is the same (25,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 90 days) as the public offer for the cardmember.  Keep in mind that you don't have to be a full time business owner to be approved for the card.  You could be an eBay seller, a blogger, or do some consulting in addition to your full time job.  I've found that American Express is fairly liberal with approvals on these business credit (vs. charge) cards.

To see if you're eligible for the offer, login to your Amex account online and checkout your offers at the bottom of the page.  If you are interested in a referral from me, feel free to drop me a line.

Starwood Selling Points at 35% Off

Starwood is currently selling Starwood Preferred Guest points at a steep discount.  35% to be exact.  But only to American Express SPG cardmembers.  This is the biggest discount on the price of points in a long time (maybe ever).  For context, last year they were selling points at a 25% discount.

Given that Starwood provides the ability to transfer SPG points to airline miles at a 1.25:1 ratio (for most programs, you can essentially buy airline miles through this sale for ~1.82 cents each.  While that is a great deal, I wouldn't purchase points to use for hotels or flights speculatively.  However, this can be a great way to top off an account.

Starwood ordinarily sells points for 3.5 cents so with the discount they are going for 2.28 cents per point.  Keep in mind you can only buy 30,000 points in a calendar year.  That makes the cost of 30,000 points $682.50.

While you may be able to get north of $700 value out of 30,000 points, you may actually get more value out of purchasing the points and transferring them to an airline partner in order to redeem for a premium cabin award as 1.82 cents is well below the cost that airlines typically sell miles.

Here is the direct link to the promotion.

If you haven't read my primer on buying points/miles, check it out here.  If you are interested in signing up for the American Express SPG card (personal or business) I'd be happy to send you a referral - feel free to shoot me an email.

Getting Started With Credit Card Signup Bonuses

This is an update to a post I wrote back in 2014.  While the specifics have changed a bit, the strategy remains the same.

The last few years of traveling have been unreal.  We've taken trips to Hong Kong, Maldives, Dubai, London, Singapore, Amsterdam, Paris and Bangkok!

Hong Kong!

Many of you have asked us how we afford to go on all these trips.  The answer is pretty simple…we pay less per trip than the price of an economy ticket from the US to Europe.

Etihad First Class Apartments

Review: Parker Palm Springs

By the time April rolls around in Denver, there is always a bit of Spring fever since it's not uncommon for us to get snow (as was the case during this weekend) while the rest of the country gets 70+ degree temps.  So we like to get out of Colorado for a long weekend and have historically gone to the Phoenix area of somewhere in Mexico.

This year we wanted to try something a bit different and Palm Springs fit the bill.  I grew up in San Diego and spent a fair amount of time in Palm Springs as a kid.  Emily had never been so we were both excited for different reasons.  The Parker has been on my list of domestic hotels to check out and despite extremely high cash rates, award availability wasn't an issue.

We met at Denver's Union Station a little before 9AM on Friday morning for the 37 minutes train to the plane.  A little breakfast (pro tip:  ModMarket and then Lounge 5280 in Terminal B are the go-to's for a quick breakfast and a relaxing cocktail) and some work and we were on our way for the ~2 hour United mainline flight to PSP.  Economy Plus on a refurbished A319 meant working (kind of) wifi and power but not much anything else.

On approach to PSP

 Soon enough we were wheels down in Palm Springs.  Seven minutes (seriously) later we were on the curb and in a taxi.  Note that Uber cannot pickup at the airport (yet) but they can drop off.

Welcome to The Parker

Starwood Offering Double Elite Status Credit

Yesterday I wrote about Starwood's Delta promotion which offers 2 Delta SkyMiles for every dollar spent on Starwood hotels in the US and Canada.

Now, Starwood is out with a second quarter targeted promotion which offers double elite status credit (nights and stays) for qualifying stays during the second quarter.  I've read that others received no offer while still others received a point offer.

While I'm pleased to have received the 2x elite credit offer, I'm not sure if it will actually do anything for me.  Since stays booked prior to registration don't count, I cancelled an upcoming stay and rebooked at the same rate.  I received the email with the offer a couple of days ago but the offer period actually started 4/1.  Seems like Starwood is a bit late getting the email out to members.

I am currently at 5 stays and 13 nights with another 2 stays and 4 nights planned.  That gets me to 7 and 17.  I would need to get to 25 and 50 to qualify for Platinum status which I value at about $1,000 (given upgrades, free breakfast, etc...) a year.

So at this point, I'm 18 stays short which would be the fastest way to qualify.  I could book 9 one-night stays at a cheap hotel in Denver (i.e. an Aloft) for a rate of ~$70 AI to get to Platinum.

I'm not sure an incremental $630 is really worth given the amount of time it would take to manage 9 mattress runs across the next 10 weeks.

So I'm likely to pick up a few extra elite status credits which will ultimately mean nothing given my Starwood Gold Lifetime status.  Regardless, it's a cool promotion and for many it will mean the difference between Gold and Platinum this year.

You can check to see if you are eligible here.

Starwood Double Delta Miles Promotion

I don't write a ton about Delta as it's not a great option for me out of Denver.  But that may start to change as I finally begin to rack up Delta SkyMiles (or Sky Pesos) thanks to a rich targeted credit card offer from Amex.

Starwood and Delta partnered a few years ago to the offer the "Crossover Rewards" program where Starwood elites earn SPG points on Delta flights and Delta elites earn Delta SkyMiles for spend on SPG hotels.

Crossover Rewards Overview

This quarter (through 6/30/16) Starwood and Delta are offering double Delta SkyMiles for SPG stays in the US and Canada for all members (not just elites) which is pretty cool.  This is in addition to standard SPG earning rates and according to the terms, there isn't a limit on the number of bonus miles you can earn.

Crossover Rewards Q2 Promotion

While not the most lucrative promotion out there, if you are a business travel with 4 nights per month at $250 a night that will amount to $3,000 in quarterly spend or 6,000 bonus Delta SkyMiles.

Registration is required and it's worth registering (takes 30 seconds) even if you don't have a stay planned quite yet.

How to Value Starwood SPG Points

One of the most challenging concepts in travel is how to value loyalty points.  Each time you opt to use miles/points earning credit card over a cash back card, you're "giving up" around 2%.  That's because there are several cash back cards on the market offering 2% back on all spend.  So at a minimum, you should be getting at least 2 cents in value for each mile/point acquired.

If you are using your Chase Sapphire Preferred and redeeming those points for merchandise, that is a bad deal no matter what.  If you are using your United miles to fly domestic economy, that isn't a "bad deal" per se but you're certainly giving up the opportunity to receive an outsized return on your everyday spend.

As I'll explain in a moment, that is why I use my miles and points for international first class and luxury hotels.

Watching the sunset

What's in My Wallet April 2016

Here's an overview of what cards are currently in my wallet as of April 2016.

1) Chase Freedom

The Chase Freedom card offers "rotating" 5x spend categories by quarter.  For this quarter (ending 4/30/16) Freedom is offering 5x at grocery stores and warehouse clubs.  It seems the bonus will work at Costco.com so I'll be working towards earning my 7,500 bonus points via some online shopping.

2) Chase Sapphire Preferred

All of my extra (not contributing to sign-up bonuses) travel and dining spend goes on the CSP.  I've had the card for almost 4 years and gladly pay the $95 annual fee given my credit history, limit, and the earning power of the card.  

3) Amex Platinum

I actually don't put spend on the card at all (other than to earn the sign-up bonus) but have kept it in my wallet strictly for the benefits.  I recently used the card for Centurion lounge visits in Las Vegas and New York as well as an American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts booking.

4) Barclays Arrival Plus

This is actually the third time I've had this card from Barclays which will rebate $420 worth of travel expenses in the form of cash.  I've already used both of our Citi Prestige airline credits in 2016 so this card will provide additional cash back against future (hotel, airfare) out of pocket travel expenses.

5)  Starwood American Express

Any spend that isn't going towards reaching a signup bonus or isn't a category bonus goes on this card.  Despite the upcoming merger with Marriott, I am still valuing Starwood points at north of two cents.  So even at 1 point per dollar, I still feel like I'm getting a great return on spend.

Anbang Withdraws - Marriott Wins

This may be the it.  Multiple news outlets are reporting that Anbang has withdrawn their offer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts citing "market conditions."

W Taipei - a Starwood Hotel

That means Marriott is the likely winner in the bid for Starwood.  While I'm not surprised, I was hopeful that Anbang would figure it out and Starwood would stay independent.

London EDITION - a Marriott Hotel

I know it's been all Starwood news, all the time over the last couple of weeks.  I have new posts coming this weekend that will focus on several other hot topics including today's Alaska devaluation of the Emirates award chart...stay tuned.

Anbang Tops Marriott's Offer

The Marriott/Starwood merger saga continues.  Anbang has topped Marriott's previous offer with a $82.75 cash bid.  It doesn't look like Starwood's board has accepted the offer yet but I can't imagine them not accepting a superior all cash bid.  The only reason not to accept would be concern over regulatory authorities (in China) blocking the deal.

St. Regis San Francisco

If you haven't followed the story, here are previous posts:

Marriott tops Anbang's bid

Starwood signs deal with Anbang

Marriott buys Starwood

It seems Marriott has put a press release basically stating that they won't top the bid and shareholders should continue to vote for the Marriott/Starwood tie-up given greater potential for long term shareholder value creation.  While that may be possible, the better short term deal is clearly Anbang's.

Marriott Leading the Chase for Starwood

I'm a couple of days late with the news that Marriott is once again in the lead to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts.  Marriott submitted a revised offer to Starwood's board on Monday and they accepted.  The cash and stock bid trumped the previous all cash offer from the consortium led by Anbang.

This is after Marriott signed a deal to purchase Starwood back in November.

New York EDITION - Marriott property

Will Anbang counter?  According to everything I've read, they probably will. It still may not be enough as Marriott's offer is significantly larger than their original offer and there may be regulatory concerns on behalf of the Chinese (go figure).

St. Regis Bali - future Marriott?

I'm optimistic that Starwood stays independent but also interested to see what Marriott would do with the company.  The combined enterprise will have north of 30 brands.  Marriott held an investor call earlier in the week and outlined some of their plans by brand (keeping W and EDITION separate, potentially merging Luxury Collection into Autograph Collection, etc...).

Anbang has 5 more days to counter so it's not over yet!

Starwood Amex 35,000 Point Bonus

The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card has been in my wallet since 2004.  I reviewed the card a couple of years ago and since then, the value proposition of the card has only been strengthened.

Current SPG Amex Bonus

The bonus is up to 35,000 SPG points after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days.  For context, the bonus was raised to 30,000 a few times over the last few years.  Two years ago, the standard offer was 25,000 points.  I remember getting the business version of the card prior to that with a 20,000 point bonus and being very excited.  So 35,000 points is unreal.

BREAKING: Starwood Signs Deal with Anbang

I celebrated my birthday earlier in the week and my birthday wish was for Starwood to stay independent and not become part of Marriott.

Well it looks like Starwood has made my wish come true.

This morning they signed a deal to be acquired by China's Anbang Group for $78 a share.  That trumps Marriott's original bid...Marriott now has 5 days to respond.

While I still think the Marriott purchase could turn out okay for Starwood loyalists, it would be far better for SPG to stay independent and retain the qualities (notably the amazing loyalty program) that have drawn many of us to the chain for years.

This will be some interesting corporate M&A drama to watch.  Stay tuned!

Starwood Back in Play

Back in November, I wrote about Marriott reaching a deal to purchase Starwood Hotels & Resorts at around $72 per share.  While the deal has been making progress (receiving key regulatory approval recently) the deal wasn't expected to close for another 3-6 months.  There was also a  provision in the deal which enabled Starwood to receive competing bids from other firms.

Well this morning, there is news circulating that Starwood received an unsolicited bid from a Chinese firm at $76 a share.  The name of the Chinese firm has not been disclosed.

Update:  The name of the firm has been disclosed and is Anbang Insurance Group who recently purchased the Waldorf Astoria in New York for about $2B.  Anbang is also working on purchasing's Blackstone's hotel portfolio in a bid said to reach $6.5B.

While this wasn't out of the realm of possibility, I figured if it was going to happen, it would have happened months ago.  The provision enabling Starwood to receive competing bids expires this week (3/17).

It's hard to know exactly if this deal would be "better or worse" as far as SPG members go.  I would have to imagine keeping Starwood intact would be better...and given Starwood's strong presence, growth, and loyalty in the Asia Pacific region, I would have to think that would be the firm's objective.

We'll have to wait and see at this point...but certainly an interestingly development!

Starwood Announces Award Category Changes

Starwood announced award category changes earlier in the week.  In total, there are 282 hotels changing categories with 168 going up and 114 going down at least one category.  The changes will take effect March 1, 2016 so you have 10 days or so to book at the lower rate.

2016 SPG Category Changes

As a reminder, Starwood has 7 categories ranging from 2,000 to 35,000 SPG points for a free night.  To get a sense of the impact, you'll have to look at the list and map the changes to your particular travel patterns.

I tend to redeem my SPG points for higher end international hotels and unfortunately a few favorites are moving up.

Specifically, Le Meridien Bangkok is going from a category 3 to a category 4 property.  Perhaps the good news is that the St. Regis Bangkok is moving down a category which makes it a bit cheaper on points.  Perhaps we'll give it a try during our next visit.

2016 SPG Bangkok properties changing categories

The biggest impact to our travel is the Westin Riverfront in Avon going up a category (8 - 9,000 points).  I will be making a couple speculative bookings prior to the 3/1 change for the summer.  This is one of our favorite mountain properties and it was only a matter of time before it moved up.

Both the St. Regis and W in Istanbul are moving down a category.  Not shocking given the geo political climate in Turkey of late.  I was also surprised to see Le Meridien Bora Bora move down from a category 7 to a category 6.  The 10,000 point difference is significant and opens up Bora Bora to a lot more people.

How do these category changes impact your 2016 travel patterns?  Anyone else making speculative bookings?