Buy Starwood Preferred Guest Points for 20% Less

Generally speaking, buying airline miles or hotel points is a great deal for the airlines and hotels on the sell side of the transaction but a lousy deal for buyers.

Occasionally, however, the value proposition tilts in favor of consumers, as in US Airways' periodic 100 percent bonus offers. So it's worth keeping an eye out for opportunities to come out ahead.

Starwood points -- because they're transferrable into miles in a number of airline programs, and because of the 5,000-mile bonus when transferring 20,000 points -- are among the most popular loyalty currencies. Even so, buying Starpoints at everyday prices doesn't usually make economic sense.

This limited-time discount changes the game somewhat. Is it enough?

Offer Details

Through December 30, the price to purchase Starwood Preferred Guest points, either for a member's own account or as a gift to another member, will be reduced by 20 percent.

With the discount, the price of 1,000 points is $28, versus $35 normally. And the price to purchase the maximum annual allotment of 20,000 points would be $560, rather than $700.

Deal or No Deal

In Starwood's program, 20,000 points are enough for a free award night at a Category 6 hotel, the second priciest category which includes the likes of the W New York and the St. Regis San Francisco. Best available rates at those two hotels are in the mid-$500 range, so purchasing the discounted points would yield little if any savings over booking paid nights.

How about purchasing 20,000 points and converting them to 25,000 airline miles, enough for a free round-trip coach domestic flight? The average price to buy that ticket is currently around $350. So paying $560 for the points, and then having to deal with the restrictions and capacity controls imposed on award tickets, looks like a losing proposition as well.

Bottom line: Even with the 20 percent discount, it's difficult to justify the purchase of significant quantities of Starwood points.

Reader Reality Check

Have you ever gotten a good deal on the purchase of airline miles or hotel points?

Other Posts of Interest

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• Fall Hotel Promotions, Compared
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• This Fall, Earn 2,000 US Air Miles for Marriott Stays
• Earn Up to 80,000 Priority Club Bonus Points for Fall Stays
• Hyatt's Possibilities Promo: 5,000 Bonus Points After Every Three Nights
• Another Marriott Option: Up to 30,000 Miles for Fall Stays
• Up to Triple Points for Best Western Stays
• Starwood Offers Double, Triple Points for Fall Stays
• Choice Hotels Offers Quadruple Points for Fall Stays
• Marriott's New MegaBonus: One Free Night After Two Stays
• Hyatt Adds Elite Perks, Changes Award Prices
• Get Texts to Get 500 Priority Club Bonus Points
• Book InterCon Stays by Smartphone to Earn a Priority Club Bonus
• Book Priority Club Hotels for Just 5,000 Points With PointBreaks
• Hilton Points Go Further With Point Stretcher Awards
• Your Choice: Airline Miles or Hotel Points?

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Comments

[Bob J.]

Regarding "Buy Starwood Preferred Guest Points for 20% Less" this is the email that I sent to Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG).

Dear Madam or Sir,

Please read Tim Winship’s analysis (http://blog.frequentflier.com/2011/11/buy-starwood-preferred-guest-points-for-20-less.html) of the current promotion to buy SPG points at a 20% discount. I totally agree with Tim, and I believe that a much better offer would include a 100% bonus at the regular purchase price of $0.035 per point. In other words, offer 20,000 SPG Points + 20,000 Bonus Points for $700.00.

On the surface, the 20% discount may seem attractive to the uninitiated, or to someone who just needs a few points to reach a certain award level; however, I feel that the 100% bonus offer makes a lot more sense for the majority of your SPG Members.

Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely,
Bob J