Starwood AMEX Adds Benefits..No Foreign Transaction Fee..but raises annual fee to $95

[Bill4728]

I'm so happy they are dropping the foreign transaction fees. We use our marriott card do because of the fees. I can finally go back to the Starwood AMX

 

[DavidnRobin]

Previous fee was $65 (I managed to get it waived last year thanks to FlyerTalk).

I will be canceling our SPG AMEX next March when they split (after paying our SVO MFs that gets 2x SPs).
I will get whatever card Costco decides to use - as Costco/gas is close to work and home.

 

[vacationtime1]

I'm so happy they are dropping the foreign transaction fees. We use our marriott card do because of the fees. I can finally go back to the Starwood AMX

Previous fee was $65. . . . .

Now it's $95. So it seems to me that this "free" benefit will cost me $30/year whether or not I use it (the other "upgrades" are of no value to me).

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Now it's $95. So it seems to me that this "free" benefit will cost me $30/year whether or not I use it (the other "upgrades" are of no value to me).

I'm dumping mine, as the ROI will not benefit me

 

[LisaRex]

I will be canceling our SPG AMEX next March when they split (after paying our SVO MFs that gets 2x SPs).
I will get whatever card Costco decides to use - as Costco/gas is close to work and home.

That would be Citibank Visa.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/03/02/costco-citi-visa-deal/24253649/

 

[DavidnRobin]

That would be Citibank Visa.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/03/02/costco-citi-visa-deal/24253649/

Thanks - good to know.

 

[Ken555]

Starwood AMEX Adds Benefits..No Foreign Transaction Fee..but raises annual fe...

Thanks - good to know.

Any visa should be accepted there, though. You might find a better deal...will be interesting to see what benefits are included with the costco visa once details are announced.


Sent from my iPad

 

[duke]

Drop SPG AmEx for Chase Sapphire Preferred - SPG Plat member

$95 fee increase! I already pay $95 for Chase Sapphire Preferred. CSP gives 1) Free collision damage waiver as PRIMARY., 2) 2X points hotels and restaurants, and 3) no FTF. AND also transfers miles to Southwest and United.

I love AmEx customer service but will drop SPG AmEx when fee renewal comes up next year.

If AmEx wants to keep the customers that will be dropping this card they should create a path to a no fee card that does not require another hard pull on credit report.

 

[janej]

I have used the SPG Amex card as my primary card for many years. I have lots of points saved up. I am considering switching to a different card as we don't stay in SPG hotels too often to justify paying $95 a year for the card.

What do I need to do for the points I earned on my account?

 

[SMHarman]

They stay in your spg account until expiration.

Not sure the spy expiration policy but they usually require earn or spend every 18 month's.

 

[YYJMSP]

From the SPG web site:

Starpoints® expiration — Your Starpoints never expire as long as you show account activity once per 12-month period.

 

[krj9999]

FWIW DW was up for renewal and was able to get 7k Starpoints as a retention bonus, which made it worth renewing.

I'll guess we'll revisit when the annual fee approaches again next year.

 

[LisaRex]

Does anyone use Boingo? If so, how did you enroll? Is there a portal on the SPG Amex site, or will just typing in the SPG Amex for payment suffices?

Stay Connected on the Go

Enjoy complimentary, unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi on up to four devices at more than 1,000,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide. Enrollment required.‡

 

[gravitar]

Does anyone use Boingo? If so, how did you enroll? Is there a portal on the SPG Amex site, or will just typing in the SPG Amex for payment suffices?

Stay Connected on the Go

Enjoy complimentary, unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi on up to four devices at more than 1,000,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide. Enrollment required.‡

Try amex.boingo.com



Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

 

[Henry M.]

I enrolled for the free Boingo access. I've tried it a few times overseas (mainly Germany) and the service is usually terrible. I bought a local SIM card from Vodaphone for my iPad and I'm much happier with that. The SIM card allows me to turn on a Hotspot and I can connect all my other devices to it. 1GB of data for a month costs around 25 Euro (a little over $25.00). Well worth it to avoid the Boingo aggravation.

I haven't tried it in the US, because I have an unlimited data plan on my iPad and most places where I use my laptop have free WiFi available.

 

[Scott & Laura]

Hello


We have American Express and a Wells Fargo Visa

A person at Wells Fargo informed us our card will be upgraded to match American Express features and benefits---We had no clue that one card was better than another because when I was in the Sciences getting a degree I used a slide Rule

My Wife checked into things and we discovered according to American express we didn't have to buy GAP insurance--(the difference between my insurance and deductables) and that American Express even covered us for losses and damage in foreign countries---We traded our Maui Hawaii place for Cancun because we were never their and the flight was so short---( I know some think bad trade--we think good trade because we weren't there before and 1/3 travel time)

Anyways Wells Fargo told us they were going to give more benefits like American Express and what we learned from our insurance company was that using our credit card provided coverage's and NOT to buy ANY insurance at rental cars


However I still buy once in a while because I still have doubts that I understood correctly

As I understand American Express has numerous travel benefits and gives us a lot of Rental Car Damage and Coverages that I duplicated payment with----Wells Fargo Visa person said they were going to enhance our benefits in future to be mire similar to American Express

I would love to have people verify what we learned from our insurer and American Express and see if rental car coverage for gap and other insurances are as what was explained to me

I still get insurance now and then because I still don't trust myself that I understood despite confirming or that maybe I didn't know all questions to ask

In Mexico Cancun--American Express told us to decline all coverage's and our rental car for a week was only $98.00 We declined but I always felt uncomfortable as if I had an accident that the Monster in the closet would pop out


We paid for a tour rather than drive to Chichen Itza


I would love to have others fill in blanks because if my understanding is true I would save far more every year on renatl car insurance than the card costs--making the card free essentially


Scott

 

[SMHarman]

Different Amex have different benefits. Which card do you have?

Amex is good for ldw. There are a few countries that none of the cards cover. Jamaica and Republican of Ireland spring to mind. Some others in the middle east (probably Iran) as well but not sure which.

But yes a fee card if you use the benefits is good value.

 

[LisaRex]

I agree that the rental car coverage protection can be very confusing, especially if you travel outside of the country. You need to read the T&Cs of your coverage very closely because it's not all that intuitive. For instance, who'd think that it would be ESSENTIAL to decline the rental car's LDW protection?

The 3 most important thing to know before you rent a car, IMO:

1) Does my coverage (personal and/or enhanced credit card policy) even apply to the country that I'm traveling to?

If you're traveling abroad, make sure that you're covered in that country. For example, many policies exclude Jamaica and Ireland (huh?), so you should go ahead and accept the rental car's coverage in those countries.

2) Is the car that I'm renting excluded from coverage?

You might be surprised to know that your credit card coverage might exclude full-sized vans, trucks, campers, motorcycles, and even full-sized SUVs. (The "regular" rental car protection offered by most AMEX cards excludes trucks and full-sized SUVs, such as Expeditions and Broncos, and most "exotic" cars such as Lamborghinis and the Mazda RX-7 (huh?)). Look to get enhanced protection if you want these covered.

3) Does this policy offer primary or secondary coverage?

Many credit card companies, SPG AMEX included, offer complimentary Rental Car protection which puts themselves as Secondary insurers for theft or rental car damage. That means that they'll eventually reimburse you for your deductible and perhaps "Loss of Use" charges (loss of revenue while the rental car is out of service being repaired), should you back into a guard rail and damage the car.

"Enhanced" or "premium" policies usually means that the credit card companies will insert themselves as primary insurer as it relates to theft or damage of your rental car, which means that you won't have to worry about paying the Deductible and Loss of Use charges, even temporarily. Sometimes, they even offer up being secondary for liability (damage to another car or property), up to maybe $100,000, which means it'll only kick in after you exhaust the limits of your personal policy. No primary coverage, no secondary coverage.

None of these enhanced (as far as I know) policies go so far as putting themselves as primary for either of the two most potentially devastating expenses, which are Liability and Bodily Injury/Medical. So none of these coverages can substitute for a decent personal auto policy.

This is a good article on rental car coverage: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/03/should-you-take-the-car-rental-insurance/index.htm

Here is the SPG AMEX's "regular" policy:
https://web.aexp-static.com/us/cont...editCardfromAmericanExpres/CRLDI_DOC_CCSG.pdf

Here is AMEX's Enhanced policy's T&Cs:

https://www295.americanexpress.com/...os_pcrpmonitoring&inav=PROT_TRAVEL-Car_Rental

And this is a nice graphic that explains the difference between AMEX's regular and enhanced auto rental benefits:

 

[bobpark56]

We enrolled. It has not worked for us.

Does anyone use Boingo? If so, how did you enroll? Is there a portal on the SPG Amex site, or will just typing in the SPG Amex for payment suffices?

Stay Connected on the Go

Enjoy complimentary, unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi on up to four devices at more than 1,000,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide. Enrollment required.‡

We enrolled. Boingo has not worked for us at any of the locations we have tried.

 

[LisaRex]

We enrolled. Boingo has not worked for us at any of the locations we have tried.

Good to know. I guess I won't bother.

 

[x3 skier]

We enrolled. Boingo has not worked for us at any of the locations we have tried.

It has been hit or miss for me as well. Usually there's free wifi wherever there's been boingo so no big deal.

Cheers

 

[rickandcindy23]

Because I could benefit from 3X Starwood points (own a lot of SBP), I have considered dropping the Starwood Amex for the Amex Business Platinum. The fee is hefty, $450, but we could get reimbursement for our TSA Pre join-up fees and 3X on Starwood MF's, I think. I am not really sure.

Anyway, there are other benefits worthy of note:

$200 reimbursement for airline incidentals (bag check, change fees, meals on the plane, etc.). You have to choose one airline, i believe, which would be tough. You can probably buy gift cards through the airline and get reimbursed, according to Points Guy. Southwest doesn't charge many fees, and that is my airline of choice for this continent.

3X Starwood points per $1 spent on Starwood products. So free Gold status. I would like that, if MF's qualify.

Reimbursement of TSA Pre and Global Entry

Car rental coverage

 

[Helios]

Because I could benefit from 3X Starwood points (own a lot of SBP), I have considered dropping the Starwood Amex for the Amex Business Platinum. The fee is hefty, $450, but we could get reimbursement for our TSA Pre join-up fees and 3X on Starwood MF's, I think. I am not really sure.

Anyway, there are other benefits worthy of note:

$200 reimbursement for airline incidentals (bag check, change fees, meals on the plane, etc.). You have to choose one airline, i believe, which would be tough. You can probably buy gift cards through the airline and get reimbursed, according to Points Guy. Southwest doesn't charge many fees, and that is my airline of choice for this continent.

3X Starwood points per $1 spent on Starwood products. So free Gold status. I would like that, if MF's qualify.

Reimbursement of TSA Pre and Global Entry

Car rental coverage

I don't think Amex Platinum or Business Platinum gives 3x SPG Points. If that is the case, I am sold. I've been looking at this same credit card for most of the reasons you mentioned.

 

[YYJMSP]

I don't think Amex Platinum or Business Platinum gives 3x SPG Points. If that is the case, I am sold. I've been looking at this same credit card for most of the reasons you mentioned.

I'm pretty sure that it doesn't give you ANY SPG points (directly) -- I have both cards, Canadian versions, but I'm sure it's the same in the US.

You earn Membership Rewards points (Canadian version is 1.25 per dollar spent), which you can transfer to various frequent flyer/hotel programs. In Canada, the rate to send your Membership Rewards points to SPG is horrible, something like 2:1 (i.e. 2 Membership Rewards points = 1 SPG point), so you're effectively getting 1 SPG point for every $1.60 spent.

The AMEX SPG card gives you more (Canadian version is 1 SPG per dollar spent).

 

[Helios]

I'm pretty sure that it doesn't give you ANY SPG points (directly) -- I have both cards, Canadian versions, but I'm sure it's the same in the US.

You earn Membership Rewards points (Canadian version is 1.25 per dollar spent), which you can transfer to various frequent flyer/hotel programs. In Canada, the rate to send your Membership Rewards points to SPG is horrible, something like 2:1 (i.e. 2 Membership Rewards points = 1 SPG point), so you're effectively getting 1 SPG point for every $1.60 spent.

The AMEX SPG card gives you more (Canadian version is 1 SPG per dollar spent).

Those rewards are in line with my understanding. What do you think about the concierge service you get from the Plat card?