SPG Luxury card

[CalGalTraveler]

Corrected calculation:

Was that 12k Starpoints i.e. 36k MR pesos (12 x 3)? That's an increase of 14K MR or 4666 Starpoints (devaluation again).

50k * .009 MR value = $450 / night so you are correct. You would be better off with the cash rate.

Will likely use our points for expensive cash nights e.g. ski weekends, international city, and 1 - 2 night extensions with TS and airport.
However won't actively collect MR pesos from everyday spend. We are shifting to Chase Rewards because they are much more flexible and get much higher value at Hyatt etc.

You could also book Dolphin and Swan via Chase portal with points and the associated points would be based on the cash rate (much less than MR points). Plus it counts toward cash stays and you get elite perks and MR points. Works great when cash rates are low, but not so good when cash rates are high.

 

[Henry M.]

12 x 3 = 36, not 48!

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Corrected. Need to have my coffee first before posting!

 

[controller1]

Was that 12k Starpoints i.e. 48k MR pesos (12 x 3)? If so, that doesn't sound much different when compared to 50k points.

50k * .009 MR value = $450 / night so you are correct. You would be better off with the cash rate.

Will likely use our points for expensive cash nights e.g. ski weekends, international city, and 1 - 2 night extensions with TS and airport.

12 x 3 = 36, not 48!

As timeshare owners here on TUG, what in the world are you going to do with the points? I have a lot of points now that I combined them. My favorite spend was 12K per night at Swan and Dolphin, and now those night are 50K points. I would be crazy to spend 50K points on a room that costs $250 with taxes included. I am NOT HAPPY.

Yes, it was an increase (38%) but it does no one good by distorting the amounts by claiming 12K vs 50K when the two currencies are different.

The 12K of Starpoints is the current equivalent of 36K of Marriott Points. So the comparison should be 36K vs 50K.

Once again, we should have seen this coming since Marriott prices award nights on how popular a property is based on number of award nights redeemed. Starwood priced award nights based on a property's ADR (average daily rate) which caused a better correlation to the award night points requirement vs the cash cost (on average) of a night.

There are properties where the award nights cost decreased. Of course, that would be Boise or Sioux Falls.

 

[JudyS]

It does work for maintenance fees I have already gotten a $300 credit. Works for Marriott and Vistana.

Thanks for looking into this, Ann. Just what I was hoping to hear.

 

[beachlynn]

I signed up for the luxury card maybe 2 weeks ago. It was an offer that presented itself online on my SPG AMEX online acct. I got my approval right away. I still haven't received the card but my 100,000 points have already posted to my SPG acct. I was shocked. I had to make a few large purchases one being a VRBO booking which I hope counts as travel. I was worried that until I had the physical card in hand I wouldn't be able to rack up points. I had gotten a notice saying that due to overwhelming applications they didn't have the cards which does seem odd. However, they said that any spending would count. Today I just got the Priority Pass card in the mail. I am psyched. I was going to pay my Vistana fees early to make sure I could get my points but now I don't have to pay early. Woo Hoo. Now I need to go get my global entry. I have my Pre-TSA already and don't have an international flight planned but I want to lock it down.

 

[VacationForever]

I signed up for the luxury card maybe 2 weeks ago. It was an offer that presented itself online on my SPG AMEX online acct. I got my approval right away. I still haven't received the card but my 100,000 points have already posted to my SPG acct. I was shocked. I had to make a few large purchases one being a VRBO booking which I hope counts as travel. I was worried that until I had the physical card in hand I wouldn't be able to rack up points. I had gotten a notice saying that due to overwhelming applications they didn't have the cards which does seem odd. However, they said that any spending would count. Today I just got the Priority Pass card in the mail. I am psyched. I was going to pay my Vistana fees early to make sure I could get my points but now I don't have to pay early. Woo Hoo. Now I need to go get my global entry. I have my Pre-TSA already and don't have an international flight planned but I want to lock it down.

This is this for an upgrade? It is weird that you got the bonus points even before you met spending requirements.

 

[J&JFamily]

I signed up for the luxury card maybe 2 weeks ago. It was an offer that presented itself online on my SPG AMEX online acct. I got my approval right away. I still haven't received the card but my 100,000 points have already posted to my SPG acct. I was shocked. I had to make a few large purchases one being a VRBO booking which I hope counts as travel. I was worried that until I had the physical card in hand I wouldn't be able to rack up points. I had gotten a notice saying that due to overwhelming applications they didn't have the cards which does seem odd. However, they said that any spending would count. Today I just got the Priority Pass card in the mail. I am psyched. I was going to pay my Vistana fees early to make sure I could get my points but now I don't have to pay early. Woo Hoo. Now I need to go get my global entry. I have my Pre-TSA already and don't have an international flight planned but I want to lock it down.

Thanks for posting this info. I received the same notification about them not having the cards. I also thought that was odd, so I’m glad it wasn’t just me who got the notice. I was also worried about not getting the $ spent credited for the new account since I didn’t have the physical card, so I called the toll free number on the back of the card. The rep assured me that I was getting the credit toward my spending (to meet the $5,000 spend requirement and thus get the 100,000 points bonus). She even told me the date that the spending toward that requirement took effect.

 

[J&JFamily]

This is this for an upgrade? It is weird that you got the bonus points even before you met spending requirements.

I believe that beachlynn did meet the spending requirement. They stated that they “had to make a few large purchases” so I assumed that those put them over the spending requirement. I highly doubt that they would be given the points prior to meeting the requirement.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Yes, it was an increase (38%) but it does no one good by distorting the amounts by claiming 12K vs 50K when the two currencies are different.

The 12K of Starpoints is the current equivalent of 36K of Marriott Points. So the comparison should be 36K vs 50K.

Once again, we should have seen this coming since Marriott prices award nights on how popular a property is based on number of award nights redeemed. Starwood priced award nights based on a property's ADR (average daily rate) which caused a better correlation to the award night points requirement vs the cash cost (on average) of a night.

There are properties where the award nights cost decreased. Of course, that would be Boise or Sioux Falls.

Yes, I know the currencies are different. I got 3X for my Starpoints, so 100K = 300K Marriott-SPG combined. So why is the Swan and Dolphin NOT 36K points per night? That would be more in keeping with the $$ value we had before.

And seriously, I am only using that SPG card to get the free night every year, and I will do nothing else with that card. I see no point in this system at all. This is just too many points for one I always booked for 12K (36K), and now it's 50K. That is a huge devaluation.

And the credit card now only gets 2X points for everyday spend. 1X points before, multiplied X 3 was better than 2X and no multiplier.

People on Flyertalk and other forums are outraged. It's making me crazy, that's for sure. I don't know what to do with my points.

 

[dioxide45]

This is this for an upgrade? It is weird that you got the bonus points even before you met spending requirements.

When you upgrade, your spend toward the new requirement starts almost immediately, you don't need the newer card to start earning the credit toward the spend requirement. At least this was the experience my wife had when she upgraded her Chase Visa.

 

[controller1]

Yes, I know the currencies are different. I got 3X for my Starpoints, so 100K = 300K Marriott-SPG combined. So why is the Swan and Dolphin NOT 36K points per night? That would be more in keeping with the $$ value we had before.

And seriously, I am only using that SPG card to get the free night every year, and I will do nothing else with that card. I see no point in this system at all. This is just too many points for one I always booked for 12K (36K), and now it's 50K. That is a huge devaluation.

And the credit card now only gets 2X points for everyday spend. 1X points before, multiplied X 3 was better than 2X and no multiplier.

People on Flyertalk and other forums are outraged. It's making me crazy, that's for sure. I don't know what to do with my points.

My post which you quoted answers your question of "So why is the Swan and Dolphin NOT 36K points per night? That would be more in keeping with the $$ value we had before."

As I stated, this was known beforehand. Since you mention FlyerTalk, it was discussed on FlyerTalk for months prior to becoming effective. I feel for you in that it appears you used your points exclusively at the Swan and Dolphin.

 

[frank808]

Just want to report. Got the $300 credit for each of our cards 3 days after paying our MVC maintenance fees.

Does anyone know if that $300 will credit toward the $5k spend for the 100k bonus points?

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[Kimberly614]

Also wanted to update...used the card for $300 in Vistana maintenance fees and received the $300 credit.

 

[carpie99]

Also wanted to update...used the card for $300 in Vistana maintenance fees and received the $300 credit.

Ooooh good to know!

 

[ann824]

My Starwood Amex luxury card 100,000 points posted as soon as I passed the spend threshold. I am still waiting on my Chase Marriott, they seem to be really slow when giving you the bonus.

 

[rickandcindy23]

So who has received 6X on MF's? That might be worthwhile for me. I am trying to figure this out. It's a lot of thinking, and my brain is overheating. I just need that answer. Did anyone pay SBP, SDO, or any other Vistana generic resort maintenance fee on the old Starwood card and get 6x?

I have asked this on different threads. Someone may have answered me before.

 

[controller1]

So who has received 6X on MF's? That might be worthwhile for me. I am trying to figure this out. It's a lot of thinking, and my brain is overheating. I just need that answer. Did anyone pay SBP, SDO, or any other Vistana generic resort maintenance fee on the old Starwood card and get 6x?

I have asked this on different threads. Someone may have answered me before.

Yes, I paid Vistana MFs on the old SPG Amex card and received 6x points.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Our SPG preferred credit card annual fee posted in July. I guess I don't get a free night. I see nothing at all in my account. That might require a phone call.

 

[tschwa2]

Our SPG preferred credit card annual fee posted in July. I guess I don't get a free night. I see nothing at all in my account. That might require a phone call.

You only get points the first year provided you meet the spending limit. The free night doesn't kick in until after the first anniversary.

 

[rickandcindy23]

You only get points the first year provided you meet the spending limit. The free night doesn't kick in until after the first anniversary.

I have had this card for at least 7 years. I don't see a free night in my account, so I assume I don't get one.

This downgrade of benefits and the lack of my free night for this year are going to make it easy to walk away from this card. I think I will have to wait another year to get my free night. I have been paying on this card for years $80K this past year, just to transfer points and miles to airlines and Amtrak.

My points transferred to Alaska used to be great, but Alaska's award seats for First Class have disappeared (40K one way level), so I stopped doing that.

What a waste of $95, in my opinion.

 

[luv_maui]

I have had this card for at least 7 years. I don't see a free night in my account, so I assume I don't get one.

This downgrade of benefits and the lack of my free night for this year are going to make it easy to walk away from this card. I think I will have to wait another year to get my free night. I have been paying on this card for years $80K this past year, just to transfer points and miles to airlines and Amtrak.

My points transferred to Alaska used to be great, but Alaska's award seats for First Class have disappeared (40K one way level), so I stopped doing that.

What a waste of $95, in my opinion.

We were able to cancel thru an automated phone line, very surprised we didn’t get a live person to try and convince us to stay.

 

[LisaRex]

My Starwood Amex luxury card 100,000 points posted as soon as I passed the spend threshold. I am still waiting on my Chase Marriott, they seem to be really slow when giving you the bonus.

Yeah, I'm still waiting on my Marriott bonus even though we met the spending bonus during the first month. I also did not receive my stay credit and points for August stay at CourtYard Bloomington. Booked via the Marriott site, so they definitely had my MR number. I submitted a Missing Stay credit form 3 weeks ago, and still nothing, though there is a disclaimer that it's taking them awhile to process them.

I hope that they're not going to pull shenanigans. I only got the MR card for the free night and it's a $95 annual fee. So while I'm not losing any money on the annual fee, it's close to breaking even. And the MR program takes an eternity to build up enough points got get a free night, so it's definitely not where I want to concentrate my spending.

 

[VacationForever]

Yeah, I'm still waiting on my Marriott bonus even though we met the spending bonus during the first month. I also did not receive my stay credit and points for August stay at CourtYard Bloomington. Booked via the Marriott site, so they definitely had my MR number. I submitted a Missing Stay credit form 3 weeks ago, and still nothing, though there is a disclaimer that it's taking them awhile to process them.

I hope that they're not going to pull shenanigans. I only got the MR card for the free night and it's a $95 annual fee. So while I'm not losing any money on the annual fee, it's close to breaking even. And the MR program takes an eternity to build up enough points got get a free night, so it's definitely not where I want to concentrate my spending.

Same thing with my husband's account. He met his $5K spending two months ago with the Chase Premier Plus (or whatever that is called) and 100K MRs have not shown up. We called Chase and they confirmed that he did meet the $5K requirement and to wait for another 2 statements for the points to be credited. He is also close to spending his $5K on his SPG Luxury card and we are expecting 125K bonus on that card.

 

[frank808]

Same thing with my husband's account. He met his $5K spending two months ago with the Chase Premier Plus (or whatever that is called) and 100K MRs have not shown up. We called Chase and they confirmed that he did meet the $5K requirement and to wait for another 2 statements for the points to be credited. He is also close to spending his $5K on his SPG Luxury card and we are expecting 125K bonus on that card.

Amex is very quick to post points. The day after I met the 5k spending the points posted to my account. Chase on the other hand takes a while. I still have not gotten it and it has been over a month.

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