September 4th, 2012
30,000 Starwood Starpoints Signup Bonus On Both The Starwood Consumer And The Starwood Business American Express Cards!
Update: The 30K offer is now dead.
Related posts:
-4BM Success! (2 consumer card and 2 business card approvals with just 1 hard pull!)
-Which Miles To Use To Israel? (Hint: You can get to Israel round-trip for as little as 20,000 Starpoints with fuel surcharges or 40,000 Starpoints with no fuel surcharges!)
-Poll: What Do You Do With Your Starpoints? (Also: Using 4,000 Starpoints to save $767 on a hotel in Israel)
-Breaking Down Which Credit Card To Use.
-Credit Score FAQs Part 1: Opening And Closing Cards
-Credit Card Reconsideration: Don’t Give Up!
-Need To Meet A Spending Threshold Deadline? Send And Receive $1,000/Month With No Fees Using Amazon Payments!
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Starwood American Express Consumer Card Linky
Starwood American Express Business Card Linky
This is a limited time offer scheduled to run until 09/04, though it can end at any time.
Keep this number handy in case you are denied, American Express application reconsideration: 866-314-0237.
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Spending on the Starwood card:
The Starwood card remains an awesome card for spending. While the Chase Freedom card is great for small purchases if you also have a Chase checking account and the Sapphire Preferred card is great for travel, dining, and purchases made outside of the US, the Starwood card remains awesome for general purchases.
Starpoints are the most valuable mileage currency. They also generously allow members at the same address to transfer points between their accounts for free.
The Starwood card earns 2 Starpoints per dollar at Starwood hotels, or a 4.6% rebate at a value of 2.3 cents per Starpoint. It earns 1 Starpoint per dollar everywhere else, or a 2.3% rebate. There are thousands of uses for Starpoints, some of which have been over 50 cents for me, but I always aim for a minimum value of 2.3 cents per point.
The card also carries American Express’ awesome top-notch protections that are light-years better than any other banks. Other banks always look for a way to get out, but that’s not the case with American Express. If you need to return an item they will gladly refund you, if you have an warranty issue they’ll pay to have it fixed or refund your purchase price, if you need to dispute a charge there’s nobody who makes it easier or as pain-free as American Express does, if your item is stolen or damaged you’ll be covered.
With this offer you will get 10,000 bonus points for spending $1 and 20,000 bonus points for spending $5,000 within 6 months. So spend $5,000 and you’ll have 35,000 Starwood points!
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Annual fee: Making it pay for itself.
There’s no fee on the Starwood card for the first year and $65 thereafter though you can often get bonus points or account credits for keeping it open for additional years. You can always cancel any American Express card within 60 days of being charged the fee on your statement and you will receive a full refund of the fee. If you cancel after 60 days you get a pro-rated refund based on how many months you had the card.
That small annual fee is nothing compared to what you can make from promotions like Small Business Saturday, Link, Like, Love, Foursquare, Twitter, Gift Chain, NYC Mix-n-Match Promo, and tons of other promotions that American Express runs all year long. I’ve made thousands and thousands of dollars from these and so can you! Additional cardholders are free on the Starwood card, and each one qualifies for their own promotion credits!
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Business cards and Open Savings:
Getting a business card is simple. If Joe Smith sells items on Ebay or on Amazon, or has any other side business/hobby and wants a credit card to better keep track of business expenditures he can just open a business credit card for “Joe Smith Sole Proprietorship” as the business name.
Just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and just use your social security number in the Tax Identification Number field as well as in the social security number field.
A perk of business card spending is that it doesn’t count against your credit utilization, so you don’t need to worry about the credit affect of using up a majority of your credit line, something that is bad for your credit if done on a personal card even if you pay it off every statement (which is why I pay off personal cards multiple times per month).
It’s also worth remembering that the credit line (and utilization) of business cards are not reported on your personal credit report, thus closing them also won’t effect your score.
With the Starwood business card you will get Starpoints AND automatic cash back on purchases from these select retailers with Open Savings:
Barnes & Noble online: 5%, Epson: 5%, Fedex: 5%, Flowers.com: 5%, Hyatt: 3%, HP: 5% if you spend $200-$999 annually, 10% if you spend $1,000-$50,000 annually, Microsoft Store: 5%, Courtyard/Fairfield/TownePlace/SpringHill/Residence Inn by Marriott: 5%, Office Max online: 5% on purchases up to $250, 10% on purchases above $250.
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Elite Status:
Just by having a Starwood card you earn Preferred Plus status. This status earns you the right to checkout at 4pm at Starwood hotels and preferred rooms.
If you spend $30,000 in a year on either Starwood card you earn Gold status. Gold status gets you free wifi or a 250 point amenity on all stays, even when redeeming points. You can also get automatic gold status with no spending requirement by opening an American Express Platinum Consumer card or an American Express Business Platinum card.
When you have the Starwood card you also get other benefits like every 3rd night free at Sheraton, 5th night free in French Polynesia and Hawaii with free resort credit, and 2 elite qualifying stays and 5 elite qualifying nights for every Starwood card that you have that count towards earning Gold or Platinum status!
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Using Starpoints:
As points are deposited into your Starwood account you do not lose your points if you cancel your card like with American Express Membership Rewards points. You do need to maintain some activity in your Starwood account every 12 months though to keep it active.
Starwood’s cash and points chart make expensive hotel stays dirt cheap. Take the Sheraton at my hometown Cleveland airport for example. The rate there for tonight is $189+tax=$223. Using Starpoints you can either pay 4,000 points for a value of 5.6 cents per Starpoint or you can use 1,600 points and $30 cash for a value of over 12 cents per Starpoint! (I’ll run the numbers for you, if you redeem all 30,000 bonus Starpoints for hotels of a similar 12 cent value, and I have done much better than that example, that would equal a $3,600 signup bonus) Plus award nights even count towards elite status and Gold members receive 250 points back and Platinum members receive 500 points back per stay. Effectively as a Platinum member I can stay at the Sheraton Cleveland for just 1,100 points plus $30 instead of $223 and be a stay closer towards requalifying for Platinum status.
When you redeem points for a hotel stay when using just points you also get the 5th night for free! Plus there are no blackout dates or capacity controls on standard rooms starting at 2,000 points per night.
Of you can transfer your Starpoints into miles with dozens of airlines at great ratios. 20,000 Starpoints becomes 25,000 miles on most of those airlines. 20,000 Starpoints becomes 50,000 kilometers on LAN, a South American OneWorld carrier. LAN never charges any fuel surcharges.
The Starwood card is much better than other cards (Like HAS advantage) for going to Israel. With HAS you are stuck with just the availability on El Al. Plus El Al charges hundreds of dollars in fuel surcharges on award tickets.
With Starwood you have thousands of routing possibilities for free flights to Israel for less points than with HAS. And even if you want to only go to Israel on El Al you can just transfer Starwood points to AA and they will book you on El Al without any fuel surcharges!
There are also often bonus miles promotions for even more miles when you transfer points to airlines. In the past bonuses for transferring have ranged from 25% to a whopping 312% for transfers to Air Canada, AA, Delta, and USAirways on top of the standard 25% transfer bonus.
Starwood Nights and flights option makes 5 night stays even cheaper when you transfer Starpoints to miles at the same time as when you book the stay.
Curious about the 31 Starwood transfer options and ratios? Here they are! With so may different airlines to transfer to it’s just a matter of figuring out which one has the lowest rates to where you want to go. I’ve separated them by alliance so you can know which airlines are partners and will therefore let you book award travel on partner airlines. Of course airlines also have lots non-alliance partners, but by definition they are partners with all airlines in the same alliance.
OneWorld Alliance:
AA: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Air Berlin: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
British Airways: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
JAL/Japan Airways: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
LAN: 20,000 Starpoints=50,000 kms
Mexicana: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Skyteam Alliance:
Air France/KLM Flying Blue: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Alitalia: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
China Eastern: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
China Southern: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Delta: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Star Alliance:
Air Canada: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Air China: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Air New Zealand: 20,000 Starpoints=385 points
ANA/All Nippon: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Asiana: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Lufthansa Miles & More: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Singapore: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Thai: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
United: 20,000 Starpoints=12,500 miles
USAirways: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Unaligned:
Alaska (Partners with many various airlines): 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Emirates: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Etihad: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Hawaiian: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Kingfisher: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Qatar: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Saudi Arabian: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Varig: 20,000 Starpoints=12,500 miles
Virgin Atlantic: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
1
August 7th, 2012 at 12:00 am
Any chance to get the extra 5K points if you signed up for SPG in June?
2
August 7th, 2012 at 12:01 am
@LA2NYC:
Highly doubtful, but you can definitely try signing up again.
3
August 7th, 2012 at 12:19 am
If I just cancelled my spg, what is the wait requirement?
4
August 7th, 2012 at 12:20 am
@ThankYou:
There is none.
5
August 7th, 2012 at 12:27 am
Do you mean that these can be churned for multiple sign up bonuses?! (Even if have earned the previous 10k bonus…)
6
August 7th, 2012 at 12:36 am
You mentioned that you can apply for a 2nd card even if you have a card already. Does that always work as long as you leave spg number blank? Or do they sometime deny you because of existing account? Also would it be better to get business instead? Or maybe get both?
7
August 7th, 2012 at 12:39 am
Dan, you said; “I have been able to have multiple consumer and business Starwood cards at the same time”- does that mean we can open more then one at a time? or that even if we already have an account we can open another one now for the sign uo bonus?
8
August 7th, 2012 at 12:40 am
@HyShai:
@Thingywingy:
Churning is rarely a sure thing, but I stated how I do it and I’ve done it successfully many times.
@ddawg:
I’ve had 4 Starwood cards open at once and gotten the bonus for all of them.
I just like to keep certain spending on separate cards…
9
August 7th, 2012 at 12:40 am
So I could apply at once for the personal and the business, and it will be one credit pull?
10
August 7th, 2012 at 1:09 am
Is there a hard pull on your credit for a business card
11
August 7th, 2012 at 1:34 am
bizz link is live
12
August 7th, 2012 at 1:40 am
I still am only getting 25K on the business card.
Cleared the cache and the cookies, didn’t help
13
August 7th, 2012 at 1:48 am
Consumer is live
14
August 7th, 2012 at 1:54 am
Biz link is hit-or-miss right now.
15
August 7th, 2012 at 1:55 am
thanks dan, i know it was stated, but even though i commited to them last week on the phone for anpther yr i was never charged yet, i can cancel and resign up and they wont charge me first yr?
16
August 7th, 2012 at 2:29 am
i just applied 2 weeks ago but for some funny reason i got denied, with chase and citi i have a vary good credit i tried reconsideration but didn’t help to much!!! any idea how i could get this card??
17
August 7th, 2012 at 2:34 am
Q? How many flights to Israel would 30k of these miles take me?
I only recently started building credit whats the chance of them accepting a newbie?
18
August 7th, 2012 at 8:35 am
Does this card have any forex fees?
19
August 7th, 2012 at 8:37 am
Dan,
is it easy to churn these cards?
I have these cards what’s the best way to churn them?
thanks
20
August 7th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Is there a minimum age someone has to be to be an authorized user on a credit card?
21
August 7th, 2012 at 9:02 am
If I have an Amex blue card (paid off in full every month) would Amex transfer my card into a starwood with this 30k deal? (if they let me, must i use my points before?
Thanks
22
August 7th, 2012 at 9:09 am
its interesting that you can have multiple starwood cards open at the same time without having to move credit lines to close them out
are there any other CC out there that let you keep multiple cards open??
am i understanding this correctly? or did I miss something
23
August 7th, 2012 at 9:12 am
First I heard of the plum card. Is it a good card to have? any advantages over other amex cards?
24
August 7th, 2012 at 9:31 am
should I just call them and say ‘I want to churn my cards’?
25
August 7th, 2012 at 9:34 am
Similar question as @yosele, if I apply for the AMEX Gold, Platinum, should I apply with the SPG Consumer, or Business? Or if the business doesn’t have a pull of it’s own, can I do the 3bm and then the business later, or should I reach for the stars on a 4bm?
26
August 7th, 2012 at 9:55 am
CAN YOU GET BOTH THE PERSONAL & BIZ with 2bm for 60k points?
free transfer from wife’s account to mine?
27
August 7th, 2012 at 10:08 am
Why is United so stingy with their conversion ratio?
28
August 7th, 2012 at 10:14 am
@Yosef H see related articles to this post.
29
August 7th, 2012 at 10:15 am
consumer card is asking me to log in
30
August 7th, 2012 at 10:15 am
So when applying to multiple SPG cards, I should leave the SPG account blank? And then what? Call Amex once your account is approved to update your SPG # to those new accounts?
31
August 7th, 2012 at 10:31 am
As @Nat: said, Consumer link is live
32
August 7th, 2012 at 10:45 am
I was planning to get 2 Chase (Ink Bold and Ink Plus for 75,000 total sign up points).
I already have an SPG card, so should I go with this new Starwood deal or stick with the Ink Bold plans?
33
August 7th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Hmmm…, weird I applied last night and got approved for 30k biz….I hope it goes through as a 30k
34
August 7th, 2012 at 11:21 am
Applied about a month ago 3bm biz gold 75k delta 30k and spg 25k. Was approved initially for first 2 then about 2 weeks later for the spg. I did not spend yet anything on the spg. Question: should i call for the extra 5K or any other thoughts. thanks
35
August 7th, 2012 at 11:51 am
I did a 3bm for the gold starwood and the simply cash card- but was dissapointed to see that the application went through for two gold cards- i dont know how that happened…
36
August 7th, 2012 at 11:59 am
@yosele:
If you apply for 2 or 3 personal and 2 or 3 business cards it’s usually 1 pull for each type.
@Rots5:
Yup.
@goodboy:
Try reconsideration again, offer to shift credit line or close other cards.
@Yosef H:
Read the related links at the top of the post.
@DJ:
It does, 2.7%.
@Mayer:
Probably, though you can supply any age for an AU.
@Menachem:
No, you don’t get points for converting a card.
@Sammy:
I have multiple Sapphire cards, multiple United cards, it’s all about explaining why you need multiple cards to keep track of different kind of spending.
@chaim:
Good if you want cash back I suppose.
@shmu:
Are you kidding me?
@Josh:
Go for a consumer 2bm and a business 2bm. I’ve done that to get approved for 4 cards.
@KST:
Yes and yes though you may get 2 pulls that way.
@Joe:
Because Chase wants you to use their cards (like Freedom, Sapphire, and Ink) to earn United points.
However USAirways will be happy to book you travel on United.
@mas:
They will either create a new SPG account for you (which you can merge by calling SPG) or they will locate your existing account, but for some reason that allows you to get the points again.
@Chani S.:
App-O-Rama: Applying with multiple 2bm/3bm from multiple issuers, like AMEX and Chase near to the same time.
@alce:
They generally won’t match but you lose nothing by asking.
@brooke:
I don’t see how that’s possible if you properly used 3 different browsers, like IE, Firefox, and Chrome.
37
August 7th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
is it up and running?
38
August 7th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
@eli:
It sure is!
Read the “important note on American Express card application errors” in the post above if it still isn’t working for you.
39
August 7th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Dan,
did you just say applying for SPG personal & biz version using 2bm will result in 2 hard pulls?
How do I make it work for one pull?
if after a year, i want to covert to another amex card, can the SPG card downgradable to the Blue Cash card?
40
August 7th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Dan,
Thanks for an amazing website!
I need some clarification please(I’m rather new at this):
Ar you saying that I can fill out three separate applications for SPG personal cards on three separate types of browsers under one name with identical information (SS#, addresses, phone numbers) and submit all three at the same time, and get approved for all three (with 3 separate 30,000 bonuses)? Will they call me to ask why I want three cards, or it would typically be approved? And then, I could do the same with three business SPG cards and get the same results (using the same phone number for those cards as well)?
41
August 7th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
If I just applied for united and freedom my first cc’s is it ok to do another batch?
42
August 7th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
With a credit score of 686 should I do a 3 bm with the starwood card?
43
August 7th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
did the 3bm for delta gold, spg biz and spg personal… got approved for the delta gold… and the 2 SPG apps are pending… reason they gave me over the phone: because they are similar products they need 5 days to review the applications.
44
August 7th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
@KT:
Either it will be one or 2 pulls, YMMV.
Yo can apply for SPG, Delta, and Premier Gold with just 1 pull.
You can downgrade.
@Murray:
No, I wouldn’t apply for more than 1 SPG Consumer and 1 SPG business at a time.
Add other cards, like Delta or Premier Gold, etc.
@Sam w:
Sure.
@Rachel:
It’s a little low, but you won’t know if you don’t apply.
@mas:
Wait it out, don’t worry.
45
August 7th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
can i apply for a personal as well as business card if i have them both active now or do i need to cancel them?
46
August 7th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Dan:
With the 3BM you wrote that I should click on the 3 applications at exactly the same time. Does this mean a second or two apart is ok or is there some trick to click on all three at once?
47
August 7th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
@dan thanks! It’s not that I’m worried… but it’s the anticipation that just kills you!
I did the 3bm with Citibank a few weeks earlier… AA Visa, AA MC, and Hilton… Hilton went through… but they just won’t let me have more than one AA card… I’ve been calling to deal with different agents but so far they are all singing the same tune. My first AA card was opened 12 months ago… I just downgraded it to a a no fee TY points Visa to avoid membership fee. Guess I’ll have to do what others have done… and that’s just to wait a few more months before trying my luck again.
What can I say Dan? You inspired me with your opening powerpoint slide at your seminar
48
August 7th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
I did a 2bm with SPG and Plat… both pending… how long does this tend to last?
49
August 7th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
is i was told that my delta card is pending further review does that mean im not accepted?
50
August 7th, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Hi Dan, i need some advice, i have good credit score, had old chase card, and for about a year had the amex sky blue, a few months ago i added my wife on the amex in order to give her good credit.. I would like to start building good miles and i see this 30k amex offer, now should i apply for 2 cards, 1 for me and 1 for my wife (whats the chances of her getting approved?) or should i first add my wife to my new card to get the extra 5k, and in a month apply for her (that would b easier for the spending..) would that way work or at that point would she be considered as “having a card within the last 12 months”??
51
August 7th, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Actually, HAS Advantage *may* be better for travel on El-Al, as only 56k points required vs. 90k AA miles or 75k SPG points which convert into 90k miles. You need to factor in fuel surchages you’d have to pay though for using El Al points instead of AA miles. Of course, HAS Advantage does not offer a signup bonus as generous as SPG or AA cards, but we are talking only about using the card for purchases.
52
August 7th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
@levik:
You can try either way.
@Yitz:
A few seconds apart is fine.
@oompaloompa:
Give it a week and then call.
@Eli:
Not at all, it means wait and hope
@Dovid:
Apply for her separately and see what happens.
@EugeneV:
75K SPG to get to Israel?
Obviously you didn’t read this article: http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/23168
It can be done for as little as 20K SPG for a round-trip!
53
August 7th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
@Dan:
When I call up what do you suggest I say?
54
August 7th, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Dan, I have an SPG card for about one year. Can I open another account to get the sign up bonus? or should my wife apply for this one to get the sign up bonus and then Ill add my name on it? I’m not sure what my best option would be?
55
August 7th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
@Dan:
Dan im still not exactly sure what this means. If i apply for another spg card now, which is the exact same card i have had for years, would that be okay or would they decline me because I already have one?
56
August 7th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Dan–THIS IS WHAT I JUST RECEIVED WHEN TRYING TO PURCHASE AN aa gc FROM MY PLATINUM CARD:
“Based on recent Gift Card-related legislative action in the State of New Jersey that requires sellers of such products to report voluminous documentation with regard to our customers, we have regrettably elected to no longer sell or deliver Gift Cards to individuals in the State of New Jersey. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Your credit card has not been charged.” —WHATS THE DEAL WITH THIS??
57
August 7th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
is this 30000 point offer for the first swipe or is it like the old offer of 10000 after the first swipe and another 20000 for spending $5000 in the first 6 months?
58
August 7th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
if i do 2 cards the same time spg business and amex plat personal card is that going to be 1 pull or 2?
59
August 7th, 2012 at 10:56 pm
Dan
I have an amex gold which i pay a fortune for yearly.
I am going to LA in two weeks and need hotles in san diago.
If i signed up for this would i be able to use points so fast for our hotel.
Is this card worth the hit on my credit score cause its much better then ax gold. I read all you wrote but am not that point savy so i didnt understand it all.
I would open one up under my name and then a seperate under my husbands..
We then go back and do a business each seperate as well? so we are opening four cards??
can we then nerge all of our starrewards together so we could go to israel as a family?
FYI i booked yesturday at 1:45 right at the end
yay!! i paid 629 but got dates that are crazy ecpensive x-mas time.
Like an idiot, I forgot to put the baby but was scared to refresh and lost so i just booked and paid 199 for her…still cant beat that crazy price!!!
60
August 7th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
help I was planning on opening up chase and Amex with App-o-rama and when i applied for this it said OUR SYSTEMA ARE NOT RESPONDING PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER.
does that mean it did a credit pull o not?
61
August 8th, 2012 at 1:04 am
How exactly can i fly to Israel with 40,000 starwood (spg) points that I currently have?
62
August 8th, 2012 at 1:18 am
@oompaloompa:
That you want the benefits each card has to offer.
@??:
You can both signup for it.
@ddawg:
They may decline you or they may not.
If they do you would have to explain why you need a 2nd card to keep certain spending on different cards.
@STEVEN:
Buy from another airline.
@jack:
It’s all in the post.
@ND:
If you mix personal and business it can cause a 2nd pull.
@rebecca:
Starwood points are worth significantly more than AMEX Gold points, especially for hotels.
You can have the points as soon as the statement closes.
@youG:
It means you application did not go through=no pull.
@Yanks:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/23168
63
August 8th, 2012 at 2:22 am
if i got F.R.ed and i closed b4 they got chance 2 shut me, will i get automatically declined? is there a certain wait period b4 i should apply? was told that its a separate dep. and wont get flagged..thanks dan
64
August 8th, 2012 at 7:57 am
If my credit score is in hight 500′s any chance I could still get approved?
65
August 8th, 2012 at 8:03 am
The consumer link is dead and not working
66
August 8th, 2012 at 9:06 am
if I just got the regular starwood card spg total 25k is there any way I can get this new offer?
67
August 8th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Dan,
How long to wait between each multiple card?
U mentioned that to apply for identical spg cards so how long to wait in btween at least?
68
August 8th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
@sol:
YMMV.
@chazu:
Doubtful.
@Snooch:
It works just fine, read the “important note on American Express card application errors” in the post.
@yaakov:
You can try sending a secure message, but it’s doubtful.
@jack:
There is no hard and fast rule.
69
August 8th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
YMMV?
70
August 8th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
dan if you get financial review for business account will that affect your personal accounts as well?
71
August 8th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
@Dan: Ymmv= Your mileage may vary?-.ok.
also is it possible to write separate post on site about FR? also unrelated: if I send $ thru amazon payments on my ink is it possible to put it as telecom. pay & therefore get 5k per month? thanks 4 your help
72
August 8th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
@Dan, I did read that post and even bookmarked it. I said specifically flying El Al though – no way to do with 20k SPG. To get 90k AA miles, one does need 75k SPG (20k x 3 + 5k bonus x 3 + 15k/no bonus, assuming no other AA miles are available).
The same redemption with 56k HAS points converted into 1400 El Al points would cost $349 in fuel surcharges according to your other post. So, signup bonus and special category spending aside, it is charging 75k on SPG card vs. charging 56k on HAS + paying $349 out of pocket.
To convert both sides of the equation into an amount one has to charge to get a free R/T JFK-TLV ticket on El Al (and ignoring small booking and 9/11 security fees), assume a 2% cash back card is available, such as Capital One Spark Cash. So, that’s charging 56k on HAS and $17450 on Cap1, which is just a drop better than using SPG.
Personally, I would rather use SPG because of all the other options it gives (and its signup bonus), but for those who are determined to fly only El Al from/to JFK and plan to earn their ticket by charging, HAS + a good cashback card is a slightly better option.
73
August 8th, 2012 at 6:04 pm
@sol:
No, Amazon payments is not telecom.
@EugeneV:
I guess I don’t get it, why would anyone be determined to only fly El Al?
Availability is not great and you would be locked into one airline.
At least with SPG you have the option of flying on any airline.
As far as the Cap1 card, try that equation with a business class ticket…
74
August 8th, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Hello
Can any one tell me whats a good way to get good credit history because I am being declined from CC company’s because I have no credit history?
Thank you
75
August 8th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
@Dan, believe it or not, there are some very loyal travelers out there. There are people who would not fly any airline but El Al to Israel. For them, by the way, HAS Advantage is a whole 20% better than than AMEX Membership Rewards (40:1 vs. 50:1).
I have no idea how much El Al charges for a business class award ticket – any idea?
Also, do you know if AA award availability on El Al is exactly the same as Matmid (besides First class), or do they have separate buckets?
76
August 9th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Can I still use Amazon Payments to hit the 5k threshold, or does AMEX block it and make it a cash advance?
77
August 9th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
@david:
Get added as an additional user on a relative’s card. Or try getting a store credit card.
@EugeneV:
3,000 LY+$349 vs. 135K AA.
Same availability
@alex:
You can, just put down goods and services.
78
August 9th, 2012 at 8:59 pm
@Dan, yep, AA is better for Business in that case, unless you have some orphaned LY miles anyway. HAS is better for First (obviously) and for those who are certain that they want to fly LY and nothing but LY, particularly large families. I would get as many Amex MR, SPG and Citi AA signup bonuses as possible, but if all that still wasn’t enough, put actual spending on HAS.
79
August 10th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
@dan i just asked on another fourom that i am new at this which card i should start and the reply was amex black but now i see so much good things about starwood that i am confused so which one should i go for.
80
August 13th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Hi
this is what I saw on the website under T&C
Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have had this product within the last 12 months
I have the SPG Bus Card and want to do this 30K offer, but not sure now seeing this T&C
Any Guidance…?
81
August 13th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
@lazer:
Lol…someone was pulling your leg with the AMEX Black comment.
@Al:
That’s been there for a while now, multiple DDF members, myself included, have found that not to be enforced.
YMMV.
82
August 13th, 2012 at 10:49 pm
Dan, how can I cash my points for 2.3 cents? Where do I do that?
83
August 14th, 2012 at 1:47 am
This is my first starwoods card. I tried opening it in my name, but when they asked for income, they asked for my place of employment. I’m a homemaker, and I’ve been able to open other cards on my name- maybe they asked for family income or something. So I opened it in my husband’s name. How can I open one of these on my name? (I have a Bloomingdale amex on my name.)
84
August 14th, 2012 at 2:12 am
If I currently have a spg personal and business card open right now…
can I still apply and get approved for this??
wont they say were sorry we see you already have a card you cant have 2 @ the same time?
and If i wanted to move my credit line from my existing spg to the new card, wont they say why are you this?
85
August 14th, 2012 at 2:18 am
@to:
That’s the lowest value that I would redeem them at.
The price someone will pay you will always vary based on how desperate they are and how many you have.
@Chana:
Did you tell reconsideration that you’re a homemaker and are supported by your husband’s income?
@Shalom:
It is more difficult to get approved if you currently have it open, though it is doable.
Sometimes the system will approve it, but even if not you can explain to reconsideration that you want to keep certain expenses on one card separate from expenses on another card.
A good example is if you need to have a dedicated card just for medical usage to keep track for tax/HSA account purposes or just for educational use, and another card for other personal use.
For business you can need one card for one business’ use and a 2nd for another business’s use, like expenses for an ebay selling and an amazon selling business.
86
August 14th, 2012 at 9:42 am
i was denied by amex due to a FICO score of 650 anything to do?
87
August 14th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Hi Dan and all,
I got fr from amex and therefore cancelled all my amex cards. (I had no tax return to show them). Is it a bad idea to try reapplying now for an amex? This happened about five months ago. thanks
88
August 14th, 2012 at 11:14 am
is there Other current card offers you can use for a 3bm for multiple cards with 1 credit pull but have good bonusess
89
August 14th, 2012 at 11:27 am
I already have the Amex personal card. I will try for a second and cancel after a year and I guess I’ll try for the business one as a sole proprietorship. I don’t really sell anything. Is it all right to do that anyway. Want to keep this legal. Also, when you say you can switch 20,000 miles to 25,000 AA miles – do you know how long the switch takes? Thanks
90
August 14th, 2012 at 11:52 am
Thanks Dan! Because of your encouragement, I applied for one in my name and left all the employer information out, and clicked that I am unemployed. (Of course I declared my joint assets.) And I was approved!
91
August 14th, 2012 at 11:59 am
If someone is an Authorized User on a Starwood card will they be eligible for the sign up bonus?
92
August 14th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
I applied for a banana credit card they said it would take a few days to get back to me. If I am declined what should i do next to get good credit score with no credit history??? and least amount of pulls??
93
August 14th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
About the 3BM how would it help me to apply to 3 different CC from the same bank at the same time?? its 3 sep applications???
94
August 14th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Daniel, If I already have and am using a card, how should I answer this question when I sign up for another: Are you enrolled in the Starwood Preferred Guest® Program?
Sorry if you’ve already answered this, dealing with screaming infant here.
Also, Dan, when should I sign up for a British Airways card if I’m signing up for this one now? Should I hold off for a few weeks?
95
August 14th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
I just got my first credit card which was an old navy CC how long should i wait till i can start puling off these AMEX applications with the 3BM trick and the works to get a lot of points??? also what should i write for my income if I am a student and i don’t make much more than 2K a year if i am honest will they maybe decline or should i say much more?
96
August 14th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
If i get added on to a realtives CC and they themselves have a bad credit score and history(On the one i will be added payments are good but other credit cards will that affect my credit score at all???
97
August 14th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
How can I spend 5000 dollars.
Does Amazon payment work?
any other ways?
98
August 14th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
@sol:
Work on fixing the problems on your report!
@david:
Sometime they will accept bank statement in lieu of tax returns.
@lazer:
Look at the end of the post above.
@MuttyL:
Time to sell something on ebay to start your new ebay sales business
The transfer process takes a few days and can be done online.
@Chana:
Congrats!
@Malki:
Yes.
@avram:
Have your parents add you as an AU on an old card.
@dave:
Because it helps and it’s just one pull.
@Taiva:
I answered that in the post…
Hold off on the BA card, a new offer is in the pipeline.
@shmuel:
Use the card for a few months (just a couple bucks per month) and pay it off.
However no major bank will approve you if you say you have $2K in income…
@mushky:
As long as that particular card is good (old and not utilized heavily) it will help you.
@avi:
Amazon Payments works for $1,000 per month.
You can also buy gift cards to get up to $5K and then cash them out with amazon payments later on.
99
August 14th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Okay, I’m almost ready. I looked at the business application and need to know what to answer for the following questions (thinking of selling on ebay as you recommended):
Already a card member? I have a personal AMEX. SO is it yes or no?
Legal business name?
Business name on card?
I didn’t see where it asked for SPG number? I don’t want to get a new one.
Do you think I should apply for the regular card again just to get more points?
Thanks for all the help.
100
August 14th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
whats an AU?? and do i need to spend any money to get my score up? and what if they are adding me to a card that has past due balance???
101
August 14th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
So for strictly sign up bonuses (for personal) , looks like just the SPG and Gold for 30k /25k .. 2 bm ? unless I am missing something, or are these 2 the best ?
102
August 14th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
@MuttyL:
Every one of your questions was covered in the post, read it more carefully.
And new SPG accounts can easily be merged with old ones.
@avram:
Authorized user.
No.
Don’t add yourself onto a bad card.
@Av:
Delta 30k?
103
August 14th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
dan if i just downgraded my spg card can i apply for a new one and get the 30k
104
August 14th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Dan, is there any way to merge the points from two SPG cards together?
Can you book one hotel room using two different SPG cards?
I have one and now my wife has one. What;s the best way to manage this?
105
August 14th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
@dovid:
Apply for it without your SPG number for best results…YMMV.
@Aryeh Leib:
Yes.
If you have 2 SPG accounts in your name you can marge the accounts together.
You can also transfer points between SPG accounts for people living at the same address.
106
August 14th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
hi dan i have the chase ink bold and i just got approved to the chase ink classic they said the line from the bold can’t be moved, i wanted to shift it to the classic and closes the bold , is it true or i should call or secure message them?
Repl
107
August 14th, 2012 at 7:44 pm
i think consumer Card Link is dead!
108
August 14th, 2012 at 7:57 pm
@shmuly:
Ink Bold is a charge card, so they are correct.
Ink Plus is the equivalent of Ink Bold in a credit card.
@fred:
Still live, please read the section on application errors to solve your problems.
109
August 14th, 2012 at 8:03 pm
So if I keep getting spg cards and merging accounts do the 3 stays 5 nights keep adding up? For example after 5 cards it will show 15 stays?
110
August 14th, 2012 at 8:05 pm
@Hudi:
Yup, I’ve yet to hear of anyone with 5 cards, but if you do let me know about it!
111
August 14th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
@fred: sorry made a mistake. it is still working.
112
August 14th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
@Dan: hi dan. i applied for the consumer card last night and got approved today. can i apply for another consumer card? if yes once i transfer my points from one account to the other can i cancel one of them before a year to avoid the annual fee?
113
August 14th, 2012 at 9:06 pm
also will signing up cor a cc and canceling within a year affect people credit score?
114
August 14th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
So I buy Amazon GCs and then i can turn them back into cash.
How do I do that?
115
August 15th, 2012 at 10:29 am
I signed up for the HAS card last week, but after reading your post, decided to go with the Starwood. I signed up for one and got approved with 30K points right away.
2 questions:
How do I cancel my HAS card with least damage to my credit?
Should I have my wife sign up for her own card or refer her to get those bonus points?
Thanks!
116
August 15th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Dan
If I am opening the card just to get the 30,000 points. Do I close the card after and transfer the credit line? What is the process?
117
August 15th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
If i was declined from a credit card 3 months ago and again this past week becuase I did not say i made such a great income and now i apply and say i make like 20k or so will i be accepted or will i be declined again because they will see i was declined 2 times already???
118
August 15th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Is there a way for me to check whats my credit score and history etc… for free without effecting anything??
119
August 15th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
note that in comment 117 it was 2 seperate cc companies
120
August 15th, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Does anyone know if the multiple browser trick will work if I’m doing a charge card and a credit card ie Starwood Credit Card and Gold Charge Card?
I’m aware that a personal and business card will almost certainly result in two separate pulls. Thanks in advance!
121
August 15th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
hi dan -
is this the best promo that SPG offered in the past?
Should I wait around for a better promo? Like a 50k or something? thanks!!
122
August 15th, 2012 at 11:42 pm
@Joe:
It will.
@Tgirl:
This is the best public offer, no need to wait around as this is as good as it gets!
123
August 16th, 2012 at 1:09 am
if i applied for a cc from GE bank and they declined me and then i apply again with a diff cc but same bank and say i earn more money will they go for that or its not worth the pull for it cuz they prob will decline me?
124
August 17th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Hi, I have the consumer Starwood, Amex platinum and chase ba card. They all recently renewed. What r your suggestions for getting the annual fees reimbursed to me or for receiving “perks” for paying the annual fees?
125
August 17th, 2012 at 11:22 am
@avram:
It is heavily based on income reported.
@Helene:
You can call and ask for a retention bonus.
126
August 17th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
i understand but do they save the old amount of money that i reported meaning is i said 15k and they declined now i say 30k will they realize i said previously 15k and now i changed it and maybe they will still decline me if i say 30k???
127
August 22nd, 2012 at 3:50 pm
@Dan Hey Dan, not sure what your advice is on this… or from previous experience.
I did the 3BM with Amex opening up a Delta, Biz SPG, and Personal SPG.
Delta + Biz SPG got approved and opened.
The Personal SPG got 1st declined because they classified it as a duplicate application. They treated the Biz + Personal are both and the same. Anyway I got on the phone, explained my position that while it is the same program, those are 2 VERY different cards. They resubmitted my app.
It got cancelled again, and after speaking with a supervisor this time, they told me I could only be approved for 2 cards every 90 days. I can in 90 days call to push that Personal SPG application through and still qualify for the same promotion I applied under.
Any recourse?
128
August 22nd, 2012 at 3:56 pm
@mas:
Keep trying, it definitely can be done.
129
August 22nd, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Ok I’ll try to have them resubmit it… this girl told me she couldn’t resubmit again… but I’ll keep calling
130
August 22nd, 2012 at 4:27 pm
thanks!
131
August 22nd, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Also any trigger word I should use so that they better understand me? I keep landing on some call centers in India
132
August 23rd, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Dan, my wife and I plan to be in Israel this Nov 5 to Nov 15 and are wondering what is the best way to get a free hotel nights specifically in Jerusalem and/or tzfat on 2 WEEKDAY nights. Which credit card do you suggest to sign up for or which points etcc. We have the Chase Trifecta but only about 5000 to 7000 points we have also have 50,000 AMEX POINTS
133
August 24th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
some guy that buys points said he would buy the 30k from me for 1.6 $480, you mentioned that you try to get (Value: When using Starpoints I aim for a redemption value of about 2.3 cents per point, making the 30K signup bonus worth about $690) is $480 good or is there something i can do to get more
134
August 24th, 2012 at 6:22 pm
@Davidd:
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=1271
@Yaakov:
That’s not a good rate at all.
135
August 25th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
@Dan: thats for cash.. how would i get a better rate, obviously he’s making money.
136
August 26th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
I am getting an error message when I click on Dans link, what am I doing wrong?
137
August 27th, 2012 at 6:18 am
@John:
Just browse incognito and then click the link, that’s shift+ctrl+n in chrome or shift+ctrl+p in firefox or IE.
138
August 27th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Dan, I just received an offer in the mail if I spend $5,000 in 3 months then I’ll get 50,000 points. It is the business Gold REwards Card.
I only wanted to open one new cc now. What is more worth the SPG 35,000 or the gold 50,000?
139
August 27th, 2012 at 9:10 am
Dan, I have a starwood card already, after I get the bonus points,and transfer them to my account, do I cancel the card ? I do not want to have two cards or pay an annual fee.
140
August 27th, 2012 at 9:19 am
@e:
They’re pretty close, though SPG has better Star Alliance transfer options.
The real question is why just one?
@Steve:
You can.
141
August 27th, 2012 at 10:05 am
why just one? because I cannot spend $10,000 in such a short time.
142
August 27th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Hi Dan,
I looked at the thread you sent me but could not find much info for hotels in tzfat for free using points. did you ever stay in hotels in Tzfat using points(starwood or any other) any ideas?
also for Jeruslaem the best/closet option for fee nights using points was La Meridian in dead sea could that be the closest free hotel?
143
August 27th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
@e:
$6K from Amazon is easy in 6 months. For the other $4K there are lots of other options you can do.
144
August 27th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Hi Dan,
I already have the Starwood bus and personal cards and just got approved for this one (without giving my spg number). How do I go about combining my two accounts so all my points are together?
145
August 27th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Hi Dan,
On another post I noticed that you said you had 2 consumer cards SPG. Are they both yours? Can one open more than one card on his personal account? or were you counting 1 for your wife?
Would like to get busy before the deal expires. Looking forward.
146
August 27th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
@Chana:
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/combine_accounts/index.html
@nate:
Both are mine and had no problem.
147
August 27th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
So Dan, any idea what the new offer will be?
148
August 27th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
@BEM684:
It will go back down to what it was before.
149
August 27th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Dan,
I have 2 seperate companies, and tried to get a card for both. i was approved for one, and declined for the secondone. When I called I was told that since i am the primary on the account, I can only have 1 business account for the Starwoods card, even though they are seperate companies. Is that true, or do I need to HUCA?
150
August 27th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
@Dan: dan i need your advice i wanna make 2BM first will be the the Starwood consumer of course, what do you think should be the second one ?? need to get milege asap. thanks
151
August 27th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Dan, do starwood points or for that matter any points apply to any hotels it Tzfat?
152
August 27th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
hi dan i want to apply for the spg business what other cards wud u suggest for a 3bm that wud result in 1 pull? thanx
153
August 27th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Dan
I asked you of I can change a consumer card to a business after they sent me a personal one
154
August 28th, 2012 at 11:43 am
i already had a SPG card ( opened in the last three months) but want to get the bonus they are having now but amex refuses to give. any ideas?
155
August 28th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Dan – my husband and i would like to open a card (or two) to use for purchases, and to bonus sell miles that we get for opening. what do you suggest we open, and if we open starwoods and chase saphire, using two different browsers at the same time (we’d be opening 4 cards, 2 for each) will we only pull up one credit?
thanks!
156
August 29th, 2012 at 12:23 am
if i just got the card and there was only a 25,000 bonus how can i match this deal.
what if i got it around 6 month’s ago?
157
August 29th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Dan, I added my daughters as joint cardholders to my Chase Continental and my Chase Sapphire card. When I applied for the Chase United, Chase called and asked why I wanted another card. I offered to move some of my credit lines from my other cards. Since there was a joint cardholder on the acct Chase cld not do it(I made my daughter a joint card holder to boost her credit, she was an authorized user for years with chase and Chase still did not approve her own card, they recommended the joint.) Chase did approve me for the United but with a small credit line. I wld like to apply for the Freedom and maybe do a 2/3BM. I am a little concerned because I have a substantial amount of credit with Chase ($57k+) already and they last approved only $5k. Will they approve me again with even more credit? Any way I can move the credit lines to approve a new card once if there is a joint cardholder (my daughter)? Can I undo the joint?
158
September 2nd, 2012 at 10:44 am
Dan, 3BM through your links, got 3 pending approvals… 1) Call recon? wait? 2) Looks like they are organized, and all applications are showing in one profile. Does that mean that the when I call I am going to have to deal with all 3 in one call? (with Chase, called 3 times, 1 for each and no one’s the wiser).
159
September 2nd, 2012 at 5:17 pm
dan my dad was asking me if his chase united mileage plus select visa if the best card for him if he uses the miles and he spend around 100k a year on it. do u have a better card for him to use to get the most out of it
160
September 2nd, 2012 at 5:36 pm
With regards to my previous post #158.. Amex Business, Amex Personal and Delta Premier Amex..
Thanks..
161
September 2nd, 2012 at 5:52 pm
@Murray: Do not do it !!! You,ll be crucified. Yes you can apply for different cards from different banks on same day, best to stick to 3 every 4-6 months and only do it when the offers are worth it and the card bonuses are good for your travel needs. I am an x airline Captain, and have been a mile collector for over 20 years, way before today’s bloggers even knew what a mile is. I do not want to see newbies hurt , travel bloggers get paid for every application approved when you apply through their links, that is why ever day they recommend a new card and encourage you to apply , chi ching the cash register rings.
Do a lot of research , learn the rules and see what suits your travel needs, but DO NOT over do it, banks are not dumb
162
September 2nd, 2012 at 6:04 pm
@yoss:
Premier Gold?
@dave 23:
He would do better spending that money on many different cards, including Starwood, Freedom, or United Club.
@pilot:
You may be an ex-captain, but I’ve been blogging long before the banks advertised with bloggers and have been churning and talking about churning since 2004.
The ability to open dozens of cards per year and fly free in first class every time is something that’s pretty special. Especially for those among us that don’t fly free due to employee privileges
163
September 2nd, 2012 at 7:52 pm
hi dan i just got a request from american express for F/R while every time when i wanted to increase my limit i would say i am making 70k a year is there anything to worry about by showing them my tax return?
p.s. they put all my accounts on freeze
and i just applied for starwood and blue cash was approved but didn’t get the cards yet.
164
September 2nd, 2012 at 8:12 pm
note its a whole diff story on my TR
165
September 2nd, 2012 at 10:20 pm
what if you apply for the card before 9/4, but get denied or pending. then after calling reconsideration they approve it, would they go back and honor the signup bonus pf 30000 points?
166
September 2nd, 2012 at 10:50 pm
@levi:
As long as you make something you should be fine.
@esther12:
In my experience as long as you apply by the deadline you’ll be fine.
167
September 3rd, 2012 at 6:00 am
Dan, i recently cancelled my Starwood Amex (personal card) before going to Israel in July. Is the offer open to people who have had card w.in last 6 mos? also, had a card for my wife but under my account. Should she apply for personal and i apply for business? any thoughts are appreciated. thx
168
September 3rd, 2012 at 9:33 pm
In appreciation of all you do, 2 SPG Business Apps have been filled using your links!!
169
September 3rd, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Are you guys getting approved instantly ? I applied for a few people I keep getting the 14 day thing.
170
September 3rd, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Dan, I applied for a platinum card and am not getting the points. (have had it in the past 12 months) how should I go about it?
171
September 3rd, 2012 at 10:54 pm
Dan, should I do a 3 or 4 bm and include mercedes plat? I noticed you didnt list it, was that by accident or do you think we should stay away from it?
172
September 3rd, 2012 at 11:32 pm
For someone who doesn’t travel (and stay in hotels) regularly but wants an AmEx card to earn miles for purchases at Costco, does it make sense to have an SPG card or some other AmEx card?
To me, the fact that Starwood points don’t transfer instantly to airlines is a major drawback especially when I’m trying to book a last-minute flight on BA.com (for example). Is this not an issue for you, Dan?
173
September 3rd, 2012 at 11:40 pm
you mentioned getting another SPG while already having one open. I just canceled my card ( a week ago) to avoid paying the annual fee and just did a 2bm for the SPG again and the Delta gold. Delta is pending and SPG they said they need to speak to me. What advise can you give me? What shld/shldn’t I say to SPG? Is it possible to get that approved?
174
September 3rd, 2012 at 11:45 pm
@DS:
If not used for hotels it’s better to transfer Starpoints to airlines like AA and USAirways where you can book flights abroad with no fuel surcharge and those airlines will hold awards as well.
Lots other points can transfer to BA.
Or you can always try to sell the Starpoints, they’re worth far more than what you’ll get from a Costco AMEX.
@Cindy:
Just speak to them, usually they just want to verify your address.
175
September 4th, 2012 at 12:17 am
Holy Moley!!! I can’t believe I just did that! Presently I don’t have any Amex cards (just Chase Freedom and Sapphire and a piece of worthless plastic from Capital One).
I just tried my first 2BM going for the SPG consumer and SPG business cards.
Wish me luck, Dan.
Please let this be the start of something big!
176
September 4th, 2012 at 4:29 am
Sorry – we’re currently experiencing some difficulties with our systems.Print this pageYour application will be processed as soon as possible, and we will notify you of the decision by mail within 14 days.
For an update on the status of your card application, please click here to go to our online status site.
Thank you for applying for the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card.
177
September 4th, 2012 at 5:02 am
is it ok to apply if i have 3 inquiries since april?
thanks
178
September 4th, 2012 at 6:56 am
If it’s giving an error message just browse incognito and then click the link, the keyboard shortcut for incognito is shift+ctrl+n in chrome or shift+ctrl+p in firefox or IE.
179
September 4th, 2012 at 10:07 am
I applied for both and was rejected outright for the regular card and I got a message that I need to contact amex for the business card.
When I called recon, I was told that my credit score of 677 is too low. Dan, do you have any advice or do I have to wait until my score improves?
180
September 4th, 2012 at 11:45 am
Dan, thank you for responding, pls, I’d love to hear your response on my previous question, comment #157. THANKS!
181
September 4th, 2012 at 11:54 am
Dan, do you have any idea what I should write to american express. to ask about the points? or do you think I should just wait? your answer would be greatly appreciated!
182
September 4th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
I applied for both online at the same time and received an immediate approval for the consumer card and a message for call AmEx with respect to the business card. When calling AmEx the rep told me that when two applications come through at same time, they place one on hold for 4-5 days before processing it and do perform a separate credit “pull” for each application. Wondering how to avoid the extra credit check.
183
September 4th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
hi i would it be ok to apply if i have 3 inquiries since april?
184
September 4th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
@Michael:
SAME HERE! Applied on Thursday for both at same time (2bm). business approved instantly and was told that the personal will need to wait 5 days for review. Does that mean that a 2nd pull is inevitable? Or can I still get away with one?
185
September 4th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Is the deal dead? Consumer linky not working but the business one is.
186
September 4th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
If it’s giving an error message just browse incognito and then click the link, the keyboard shortcut for incognito is shift+ctrl+n in chrome or shift+ctrl+p in firefox or IE.
187
September 4th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Hi Dan I usually do all the research in the blogs instead of just asking but since this will be dead tom I don’t have time. Both my husband and I have the Spg consumer and each want to do a 3bm with Amex. I guess one would be the Spg business and what would you recommend for the other 2?
188
September 4th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
Done @8:52PM EST via Dan’s link, thanks!
189
September 5th, 2012 at 12:10 am
dead as it can be.
190
September 5th, 2012 at 12:15 am
@Anonymous:
Premier Gold? Plat? Delta?
@juda:
The Business link seems dead, but the consumer link is still alive.
191
September 5th, 2012 at 12:28 am
i did 3bm. got instantly approved for gold. spg and other one(i think blue cash) said i should call to complete. do i call or wait for them 2 process? also. if i do call, do i speak 2 same rep regardiung both apps?
TIA
192
September 6th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
why are you saying the deal is dead?
ur link is still showing the 30 offer:
10k first purchase
15k with $5k spend – which will equal 20k bc you’ll get 5k for $5k spend
=30k ….what am I missing? wasn’t this the original 30k offer?
193
September 7th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
I called today to add my wife as an authorized user. The rep said that she does not get the same promotional points and that she would need to apply for her own card.
What gives?
194
September 8th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
I should clarify:
The rep said her card would earn points, but that the authorized user card would not qualify for the 10K/20K sign up bonus.
Is that right or do I need to HUCB?
195
September 8th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
@judah
the offer that expired was 10k for signup plua 20k for spending $5k (+ you would get an addition 5k base for the $5k that you spent = 35k points)
196
September 12th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
@ Dan
I just got my statement, and wasn’t rewarded the 10k. amex/spg Rep explained that this was b/c Ialready have spg cards. Anyone else have this issue? if so why bother signing up for new one’s?
197
September 14th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Hi-
If I buy a visa gift card at CVS or Staples which I can then use at Charge Smart with my AMEX SPG card – Doe sthat help me meet my 5,000 dollar spending on SPG to get the bonus or gift card purchases do not count?
Additionally, if it does count, will I earn regular points on the purchase – say $500 purchase will I get 500 points?
198
September 19th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
I reached the 5K threshold, and I only got 15K in my account. and ideas?
199
October 17th, 2012 at 11:19 am
Dan- what was the promotion code for this deal? they are not giving me the promotion.
can you email me if you know it, because this is an old post and I may not be able to find it?
Thanks earlymorningminyan@gmail.com
200
October 31st, 2012 at 5:43 pm
I closed my Amex Starwood card, waited 30 days, and applied for a new card (without using my old SPG account number), but they told me that you are only eligible for one intro offer per card type per year.
201
November 19th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Dan,
Was the $5,000 supposed to be spent in the first 3 months or the first 5 months to get the 30,000 points?
202
November 28th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
hi. i still dont get how i can get availability for points by the dead sea le meridian