THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED
It has been nearly a month since the Chase Marriott Visa card exited our market but that doesn’t mean Marriott Rewards members lose out on earning points in their favourite hotel program for everyday purchases. How so you may ask? How will I be able to earn points outside of Marriott
stays? Well the answer to that is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. And for those of you who did have the Chase Marriott Visa you have one week left to get in on this exclusive offer for you for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card.
If you have been collecting Marriott Rewards points and the program is
your hotel program of choice then you should already know that Marriott
owns Starwood and that you can link and convert points between the
loyalty programs of both chains. This means you can use the Starwood
Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to actually earn
Marriott Rewards points. How so? The American Express card will earn
Starpoints for your purchases and then you can link your Starwood
Preferred Guest account with your Marriott Rewards account. Once you do
this you can convert the SPG Starpoints to Marriott Rewards points at a
rate of 1 to 3. That’s right you are technically earning three Marriott
Rewards points for every one Starpoint earned on the credit card.
So what should I do if I have the Chase Marriott Premier Visa Card?
The good news is if you have the Chase Marriott Visa card, American
Express has come out with an exclusive offer for you for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card as long as you have not had it before.
The offer sees the sign up bonus boosted by 5,000 Starpoints to 25,000
Starpoints (non-Marriott cardholders are offered 20,000 Starpoints)
after meeting the minimum required spend on the card as well as a
8.99% balance transfer for the first 12 months, the latter of which I
guess makes
sense for anyone who has been carrying a balance on their Marriott Visa
card.
Starpoints, the currency of Starwood Preferred Guest is one of the most
valuable loyalty currencies on the market today and that extra 5,000
points is a sweet deal, adding at least $150 in value to the card.
As we mentioned already, Starpoints easily convert to Marriott Rewards points, all you have to do
is link your Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest accounts and
then the transfers are easy. One Starpoint is worth three Marriott
Rewards Points. What does that mean with the SPG Credit Card? That means
the sign up bonus is equivalent to 75,000 Marriott Rewards points, the
standard earn of 1 Starpoint per dollar spent is equal to 3 Marriott
Rewards points and the 2 Starpoints per dollar spent at participating Marriott and
Starwood Hotels is worth 6 Marriott Rewards points. The last offer of
spend at their hotels has now been extended to July 31 from the previous
end date of February 15.
Just so you know 75,000 Marriott Rewards is a really good sign up bonus!
What can those points get you? It can get you at least 10 free nights
at a Category 1 hotel within the Marriott Rewards program or even 2
nights at a Category 8 hotel if you catch a PointSavers Reward! Here is
the Marriott Rewards free night chart:
The points can also be used at the higher Ritz-Carlton Hotels and 75,000
Points can score you one to three free nights at these posh hotels:
You can search all Marriott Hotels and their respective category placements here.
Of course you don’t have to convert to Marriott Rewards right away, you
can store the points in your SPG account for use at Starwood Hotels
which once again, the sign up bonus of 25,000 Starpoints provides some
huge value!
Recommended reading:
- Why you should still consider getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
This offer is only available to existing Marriott Rewards Visa Credit
cardholders who do not already have the SPG card.
The Details of this specific offer are as follows:
• Applications accepted January 25 to April 18, 2018. Offer valid
for existing Marriott Rewards Visa Cardholders who do not already have
the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card and are residents of Canada.
• Receive 25,000 Starpoints after you spend $1500 CAD in the first three months after opening their account.
• 8.99% on balance transfers for the first 12 months.
Here are all the regular details of the card:
• You can earn 2 Starpoints for every dollar of eligible purchases
charged to the Card at participating SPG® and Marriott Rewards® hotels through July 31, 2018.
• Earn 1 Starpoint for every $1 in purchases charged to the Card
• Enjoy a Free Weekend Night Award when you reach $40,000 in purchases each year
• Experience Starwood Gold Preferred Guest status when you reach $30,000 in purchases each year
• American Express Invites™ opens the door to great music,
theatre, dining, film, fashion and shopping experiences. Be among the
first to know, and among the first to go!
· You can use Apple Pay on your eligible device to pay for
goods and services at participating American Express contactless
merchants
• Annual interest rate 19.99% on purchases and 22.99% on funds advances
• Annual Fee: $120 Supplementary Card Fee: $50
Redeem your Starpoints with the SPG program:
• Redeem Starpoints for Free Nights with no blackout dates at
over 1,500 of the world’s most desired hotels in nearly 100 countries
• Use Starpoints for flights on over 150 airlines with no blackout dates with SPG Flights
• Experience once-in-a-lifetime events with SPG Moments
You can find out more and apply for the card via this link: www.americanexpress.ca/spgrewards
“This post was sponsored by Amex Bank of Canada. The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are purely my own.”