Clarification On What Makes The Starwood Card The Best Credit Card To Use…

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Based on several emails and comments there seems to be a lot of confusion about this card…
People are asking questions ranging from are there are blackout dates, to why am i recommending a points card if im such a big fan of mileage cards…

I’m not sure if i can make it any clearer than I did in the Starwood roundup, but I’ll try to simplify the advantages of using it.

–The are 2 huge disadvantages of a points card (citi thank-you points, capital one, etc.)
1. Unlike with real airline miles, they cap the limit that the ticket can cost, and usually require 3 weeks advance purchase with a saturday night stay.
2. They don’t typically offer the huge 20-25k bonus miles when you sign up.

Therefore I strongly recommend a mileage card.

-There are 2 disadvantages of a mileage card:
1. There is often a large ($60-$85) annual fee after the first free year.
2. You are limited to the miles and mileage availability of the airline of the credit card you earn on.

The Starwood card solves all of these issues and then some.

Scenario:
You’re in los angeles and need to get to nyc by tommorow night.
-Buying a ticket will set you back a whopping $550+ RT…
-If you have Capital One Miles or Thank-You points you are out of luck, those cards require 2-3 week advance purchase.
-If you have an American/Continental/Delta/United card you may be in luck depending on if your airline has mileage tickets, but what if you only earned AA miles and only United has a 25,000 mile ticket?
-If you have a Starwood card you can take just 20,000 points and turn them into 25,000 miles on the airline that has the 25,000 mile award available!!!

So the starwood card has the best of both worlds:
1. It is only $30 a year after the first free year.
2. Only 20,000 points are required to have 25,000 miles
3. You aren’t limited to the one airline that you earn the miles on, because you can transfer the points you earn onto any airline!
4. If you would rather have free hotel stays, hotel rewards start at just 2,000 points!
5. By having the card you get free preffered plus status getting you free upgrades and 4 pm late checkouts at any Starwood (Westin, Sheraton, etc.)
6. By having the card you get the ability to transfer points to household members for free!


With just that it is easily the best card to use
, but Starwood will also give you 10,000 points for opening the card, and since there are 2 cards, a consumer and a business card you can start off with 20,000 points=25,000 miles on the airline of your choice by opening both cards. They are both free for 1 year, and $30 in subsequent years.
Signing up for a business card is easy, just name your own business and you’re all set!

It also is the only Amex airline card that comes with all of Amex’s premium card benefits, including my favorite, the ability to return anything bought on the card back to Amex for up to 3 months, and an extra year of warranty coverage on anything that you buy!

In summary:
With this card you will earn 1 Starwood point for each dollar that you spend. You will then be able to call up Starwood to transfer 20,000 points into 25,000 miles on over 30 airlines. There are obviously no blackout dates, because the main point of this card is to earn Starpoints, which can then be transferred into airline miles at a 1:1.25 ratio.

Like i said in the starwood roundup, my favorite airline to transfer Starpoints to, is (at a 1:1.25 ratio) Cathay Pacific, which will in turn fly you from the US to Europe on British Airways in business class for just 60,000 miles! While Cathay Pacific doesnt have a credit card to earn miles on directly the Starwood Amex provides a great avenue to earn miles on them.

That’s enough ranting on my part…now apply for both of these cards and start using the best credit card on the market today!

Remember, friends don’t let friends use a Capital One Card, show them this post today!!!

Starwood Consumer Amex Signup Linky
Starwood Business Amex Signup Linky

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16 Comments On "Clarification On What Makes The Starwood Card The Best Credit Card To Use…"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Anonymous

they want my tax id number for the business card should i just leave it blank?

Anonymous

ok, dan
at your command from today onward i make a vow never to do the hideous crime of swiping or using in any other manner my capitalone card
and i will apply for the starwood immediately

Dan

Anon 1-Now, that’s the spirit!
2- Yes, just leave it blank.

ca$hman

What’s so great about miles?
I like my cold hard ca$h earning credit card.

Anonymous

How does the starwood stack up to the hilton honors amex? and if i got the hilton already should i cancel it and get the starwoods?

Anonymous

United is 2;1 (SPG-United)

so take united out of your example..

Dan

Cashman- I’m glad you enjoy cash so much, I’m asuming you use one of those 1% cash back cards…
Did you know that there are actually companies that will pay you 2 cents a mile, and since with the starwood card you get 1.25 miles per dollar spent, you can get effectively 2.5% cash back on every single one of your purchases (not just your gas purchases!)

Anon 3- The hilton amex doesnt come close to the starwood.
Definitely get the 2 starwood cards and then after you get it have them roll the credit limit from the hilton card into the starwood card.

Anon 4- You obviously don’t know your airline alliances!!!
You can transfer the starwood points to USAirways, a Star Alliance member, and then book a reward ticket with those miles on any Star Alliance member, including their largest member-United!

Anonymous

Granted all of the benefits are there for the Starwood cards, but what about the double/triple mileage offers from the delta amex cards. does starwood offer the double bonus miles at times, or other special bonuses?
if one flies delta frequently, would they not be better off with a delta amex?

Dan

If you don’t mind having your miles locked to one carrier then it may make sense to use the delta card during the promo times…

Dan

Anon 5- I’ve dont some more research, and guess what I discovered?
The Starwood card does offer periodical double mile promos like the Delta Amex!!!
I can’t wait for it!
2 starpoints=2.5 miles per dollar spent, good on any airline!

Anonymous

if you’ve gotten a bonus once with amex can you get it again on the same card or a different amex??

Anonymous

whats the best way to use the miles to get from new york to israel?

Anonymous

you said that you can go buissness class to europe for 60’000 miles how does one go about this and also can you transfer 20’000 miles at a time to cathy pacific and then another 20k miles to gain a extra 10k for free?
please let me know!
Thanks
Dovid

Dan

You wold need to open a cathay asia miles account at asiamiles.com and then transfer miles in.

As far as the bonus, every 20,000 you transfer gets you 5,000 bonus, so if you transfer 40,000 you’ll get 50,000, you dont need to do 20k at a time.

Anonymous

Anon 4- You obviously don’t know your airline alliances!!!
You can transfer the starwood points to USAirways, a Star Alliance member, and then book a reward ticket with those miles on any Star Alliance member, including their largest member-United!

BUT YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO USAIRWAYS RULES…. AUSTRALIA IS 80,000 ON USAIRWAYS http://www.usairways.com/common/resources/_downloads/dividendmiles/partnerawardtravel.pdf

AND USED TO BE LESS ON UNITED (NOW THEY ARE THE SAME)

I HAVE A LOT OF AMEX MR POINTS, WHAT’S THE BEST I COULD DO WITH IT???

Anonymous

what about the % rate is it not high at prime plus 9.99%

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