Update, 4/19: The Starwood Consumer AMEX will not be discontinued. However both the Starwood consumer and business cards are no longer offering any points for a signup bonus.
The Starwood Consumer AMEX card may be discontinued as soon as today.
The Starwood Business AMEX will stick around, but is rumored to no longer offer a Starpoint bonus for signing up after today.
If you haven’t had both cards before then it’s a no-brainer to signup for the 25K Starpoint (75K Marriott point) welcome bonus on each card before midnight tonight.
Once the card is gone you won’t be able to signup for it and that signup bonus will be gone forever. You can keep using your card even after it’s no longer being offered to new customers, but if you close it you won’t be able to get it back.
But several people have asked if it’s worth signing up for the card if they have closed the card recently and aren’t eligible for a signup bonus. People have also asked if the annual fee will be waived if they aren’t eligible for the signup bonus. Others want to know if they can apply for a duplicate Starwood AMEX if they already have a consumer and a business card.
Officially you can only get the signup bonus on an AMEX card once, though anecdotally there have been reports of people getting another bonus after several years.
Regardless of that:
- If you apply and are not approved, there is no hard pull as long as you are existing AMEX customer.
- If you are approved you will have the $95 annual fee waived for the first year.
- If you haven’t received the bonus in several years, nobody will tell you for sure if you will or won’t get the signup bonus until you reach spend threshold in 3 months and see what happens.
- AMEX does allow you to have multiple of the same card.
The card itself is excellent for spending until 7/31 as it earns 3 Marriott points per dollar spent, but on 8/1 it will only earn 2 points per dollar spent. There will be a very lucrative award chart for 6 months.
All Starwood cardholders will get a free night for every card anniversary that occurs from 8/1 and on. That covers 5 of the 7 hotel categories. If you use it at a category 5 hotel then your $95 annual fee will be a bargain as that would be like buying 35K points at a cost of just 0.27 cents per point. I’d value Marriott points at about 0.8 cents each, so that’s a bargain. Plus you’ll earn Silver Elite status, 15 elite night credits, free premium in-room WiFi, and worldwide Boingo.
If you have multiple Starwood cards you’ll get a free night from each card and all of your free nights can be used on one stay.
Really it just comes down to how you will utilize that free night. If you will utilize the night at a valuable hotel every year then it can definitely be worth signing up before the card goes away.
I have 2 Starwood cards and my wife has 2 Starwood cards. That’s $380 in annual fees, though those are mitigated by AMEX Offers, Return Protection, and other AMEX benefits. Going forward though, we will get 4 free nights from those cards every year. That’s enough nights for an annual a vacation without needing to buy anything on the cards!
I have no doubt that I’ll get more than enough value out of those free nights to make it worthwhile. Will you?
Related posts:
- Live Blog: Follow The Marriott-Starwood Program Merger Announcement!
- 3 Starwood AMEX Cards In The New Marriott Program: A Comparison Chart Of The Good, The Bad, And The Horrific
- Comparison Chart: How Marriott’s August 2018 And February 2019 Award Chart Compares With The Current SPG And Marriott Award Charts
- Marriott Got Almost Everything Perfect, But The Starwood AMEX Cuts Are Just Too Painful
- Rack Up The Starpoints While You Still Can: There Will Be 6 Months Of Amazing Starwood Hotel Bargains!
- No Marriott, The Starwood AMEX Card Will Not Be Richer Than Ever. You Are Just Changing What I’ll Use It For
- Starwood-Marriott Merger FAQs: Answers To Your Questions About Anniversary Nights, Status From Existing Cards, And More
- The Starwood Consumer AMEX And Multiple Chase Marriott Cards Are Being Discontinued! Here’s What You Need To Know About 9 Starwood And Marriott Cards
- Will The Starwood Cards Disappear Or Lose Their Starpoints Signup Bonuses Today? Now Is The Time To Signup If You Don’t Have These Cards Yet!
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72 Comments On "Should You Signup For A Starwood Card Today Without A Signup Bonus Before It’s Discontinued?"
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If I had a card in the past and got the bonuse. Anybody know if I willl I get it again ?
Read the post.
About getting the bonus again. Any trends in the data points you have seen? Is the key factor how many years ago the bonus was earned or when the card was closed? In my case I got the bonus 15 years ago and closed the card 2 years ago. A little more info would help me decide whether to apply today. Thanks!
Not enough data points to answer that, sorry.
What is the value of a starpoint
Depends on how you use it, but probably about 2.4 cents today.
When I follow the link to apply for the spg consumer amex card, when I get to amex’s site there is no option to apply, only to add another user to your account. What am I doing wrong?
Try another browser.
Worked when I went incognito. My application wasn’t approved on the spot, they said they’ll Lmk within 14 days. Anything I can do to get it approved? And if I’m approved after the card is discontinued, any idea if I’ll still qualify forthe signup bonus?
is it worth it if i had it years ago but now i can still get chase cards and it will mess up my 5/24 with chase is it still worth the 25k
Possible the new cards bonus will be better? or is that settled already as not?
Which new card?
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/starwood/starwood-consumer-amex-multiple-chase-marriott-cards-discontinued-heres-need-know-9-starwood-marriott-cards/
Do you think the SPG consumer AMEX card is worth it (just took out the business card 3 weeks ago) if the only way I can reach the spend threshold is through charges that have a 3% fee?
Sure. The points themselves are worth nearly that until 8/1 and the bonus is more than that.
Can also pay taxes for a 1.87% fee…
I got the bonus 11 years ago on the consumer card and still have that card today. If I applied today for a new card, ss there less of a chance getting the bonus again since I still have the card?
Is there a limit that you’re aware of to the number of card products you may have with AMEX?
Based on a recent application for the Delta business, they informed me the limit is 5 for both charge and credit cards. I only was approved once I canceled a couple to get my total down to 5 (after the approval of the Delta).
I’d like to get both Starwood cards to take advantage of those annual nights if so.
No limit on charge cards, generally a limit of 5 for credit cards.
Not true. I have 7.
It’s not a hard limit, it’s a general approval guideline that many agents use.
Will all of us who have the current cards be eligible for the bonus on the new cards?
Which new cards are you talking about?
Is it possible that you cant reffer anyone anymore?
That’s what happens when cards go away.
Well i used the link u posted and got approved for the business card… why not i guess
Thanks
Do you mean multiple of the same card or multiple starwood cards?
im just under 5/24 and would like to keep it that way in case of any upcoming chase cards do you think its worth applying for both spgs if we already have 2 under husbands name?
or maybe should just apply for business one that wont effect 5/24 correct?
No reason not to apply for business.
Worth it to sign up for the Marriott business card now if I never had it?
Also will Marriott cards get free nights as well?
Dead
It was temporarily dead for about an hour. Page was removed. Works now. Applied. Thanks!
Amex is the one who will issue Marriott (SPG) business cards, so I don’t understand this blog post. Even if the signup bonus changes or is eliminated, it will very likely come back in August with the new card either in the form of points or nights. Don’t you agree?
All we know is that the signup bonus is changing tomorrow and likely won’t include any points.
That’s not all we know. We also know Amex will be the official issuer of business cards.
Given those 2 facts, yes the bonus may disappear or turn to a cash bonus very soon. It’s also plausible and extremely likely they will offer a sign-up bonus by the end of summer. I’m willing to bet.
Fair enough. We simply don’t know what the future holds.
In most cases I don’t think Marriott even knows.
Just applied and got approved. Thanks Dan!
What are the benefits of this card over the Marriott rewards premier card?
Dan – how does it make sense that they are introducing NEW Starwood cards if they are phasing out the spg name … what would be the point then ?
Data point:
Old SPG Consumer AMEX:
Opened 12/30/11
Spend threshold hit on 1/25/12
Card closed on 3/25/13
New SPG Consumer AMEX:
Opened 12/28/17
Spend threshold met on 3/23/18
Bonus posted 3/28/18
I just applied and got instant approval with an option to set up my online account (I didn’t) but now I see an email thanking me for applying and that they are reviewing my application now and will let me know when finished? Am I approved or not?
You are approved, congrats!
Thanks! Got another approval email a few minutes later- guess that’s just how the automated email system works..
Can I combine the free nights from 2 diff accounts of diff ppl into one stay?
Yes.
How? Over the phone?
Yes.
“All Starwood cardholders will get a free night for every card anniversary that occurs from 8/1 and on. That covers 5 of the 7 hotel categories. ”
Big mistake. You’re talking about new cards here, by the time they get to their card anniversary, there will be 8 categories.
True, in that case it will cover 5 of 8 categories.
I’m new to the credit card game. Currently have Chase Preferred and just applied for the Delta Sky miles the other day to pickup the bonus and an Amex along the way. I don’t want to hurt my credit score or pickup too much too quickly (although I always pay full balance before month is up). Is it worth getting this card too before they phase it out? Any suggestions from veteran DD folks appreciated
Can I start using the card they showed me online with a temp. cid online?
It says you can.
Thanks Dan!!!
I applied and got approved for the SPG business card!!!
can s.o. just confirm to make sure i got this correct:
if i get the amex spg business card it wont affect my 5/24 with chase and i can receive a bonus even if i received one before withe the business account?
Closed my regular (not business) spg card late 2016 and i never hit the bonus the first time.
If i reapply now, will i be able to get the bonus and will the first year be free?
I don’t understand why I should sign up for this card if they will begin to offer Chase Marriott Premier Plus card which is rumored to have a 100k signup bonus. Unless I would want to carry so many cards with a nice big annual fee on each?
More annual nights to use at hotels that cost much more than $95/year.
What’s being discontinued if they are just changing the benefit on the new SPG consumer AMEX card and re-launching
SPG consumer amex is being discontinued.
Hey Dan, While the earning value of the SPG card will be less from 8/1 on vis a vis hotel stays, when it comes to airlines, is it just as valuable as it was before? Are you still earning 1 point per dollar spent that can be transferred into airline points with the existing 25% transfer bonus? Do the SPG points remain as SPG points or automatically get changed to Marriott points at 3:1 rate and then 2:1 rate come February? If they do became Marriott points, can those then be transferred to airlines?
It will earn 33% less for airline transfers.
Dan, Why not get the Visa Mariott card that offers 75,000 points + free night, etc.?
Sure. Wrote that in several posts.
It seems that the business Amex SPG is down. Can anyone confirm
Dan, my wife just canceled her Amex SPG card last week when it came up for renewal (bad timing!). If we could convince Amex to re-open it, do you think that would that count as a “new” card for Chase’s 5/24? Also, exactly when would she receive the free night certificate and would she have to renew the card again and pay another annual fee next year, or would she get the certificate based on having renewed the card and paid the annual fee this year?
It won’t.
It would come 8-12 weeks after her 2019 renewal.
Managed to get one today (4/19/18). simply google ‘starwood preferred’ and select ‘join spg’from the link options on google.
Create your new membership and select the option at the bottom to apply for a new card.
I am trying the same. it says “Earn up to $200 in Statement Credits”. is that the regular 25k offer?
No. The 25K offer is dead as I wrote would happen.
🙁
Signup bonus for the business card no longer available and the consumer card is gone. Just like you predicted yesterday.
Not realize that the sign up bonus for the business card was going away. Now I missed out the 20,000 points I was short for 132k miles+ 7 nights package at category 7 hotel (without buying of course).
I have 800 spg points what would you suggest I do with them ?