What are you doing w/ your SPG points?

redpat · ‎04-10-2018

There might be changes on 4/16.

Sitting on 247,568 points -

If I move all to Marriott for air & hotel packages/ certificate (I have never book one), are the miles put into my AA and I get a Marriott certificate for stays that are good for a year? Is this better than transferring to AA w/ 25% bonus?

I should do something rather than wait w/ announcement coming on 4/16? I think this maybe a prelude to the Amex cards coming out.

Personal Cards: Amex Plat | Amex Delta Res | CSR | Citi AA Exec Business Cards: Ink+ | Amex BGR

UpperNwGuy · ‎04-10-2018

Why not just move all the points over to the American AAdvantage program immediately and start afresh with Marriott once the dust settles? Airline miles are usually more valuable than hotel points.

Daily Carry: PenFed Power Cash • NFCU Flagship • NFCU More Rewards • Chase Freedom
Sock Drawer: PenFed Promise • NFCU cashRewards • Chase Sapphire Preferred • Chase Freedom Unlimited • United Explorer • UNFCU Azure

Anonymous · ‎04-10-2018

Why not just book a hotel? You can always cancel the booking and get the points back if they don't screw you over on the point system.

K-in-Boston · ‎04-10-2018

While there may be changes announced next week according to the rumors, they're not going to take effect immediately.

The majority of my Starpoints have been moved to Marriott and redeemed for 2.33-2.66 cpp Marriott (or 7-8 cpp Starpoints) on Category 8 or 9 properties during periods of highest demand. The best way to redeem them is going to depend on where you're going, when you're going and how you're getting there. Converting to 740,000 Marriott points would open up a LOT of possibilities with the 7 night certificate and miles. But if you're going somewhere exotic, 300k+ miles with a Starpoints transfer to Alaska would permit two 1st Class US-to-NZ round-trips on Cathay or Qantas, for example. Granted, you would have miles leftover so you could also consider doing two of the hotel + 120k miles packages (depending on Hotel category you want, you may have miles left over to covert 1:1.25 with the bonus) and then you'd get the same r/t 1st tickets on Qantas and have 7 nights each in Auckland and Christchurch to explore both the north and south islands.

Again, the best use is going to depend on where/when/how. Alternately, if you can find a Category 1 PointsSavers Reward you can combine that with the 5th night free for reward redemptions and stay for 47 nights.

Anonymous · ‎04-10-2018

I need to decide as well. Have right at 300k points. Question for anyone. Are all the SPG properties going to become Marriott ones? If so, I might convert to Marriott points and would have 1.2 million of those which should let me book something very nice for a week. I also like the idea of transferring to Alaskan Airlines as @K-in-Boston suggests as I have another trip to Australia in the works but it is very very difficult to get first class Qantas reward tickets.

Anonymous · ‎04-10-2018

I would like to see some sources for these "rumors" because I cannot find anything.

K-in-Boston · ‎04-10-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I would like to see some sources for these "rumors" because I cannot find anything.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Leaked-New-Combined-Marriott-SPG-Status-Tiers/td-p/5217817

Anonymous · ‎04-10-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I need to decide as well. Have right at 300k points. Question for anyone. Are all the SPG properties going to become Marriott ones? If so, I might convert to Marriott points and would have 1.2 million of those which should let me book something very nice for a week. I also like the idea of transferring to Alaskan Airlines as @K-in-Boston suggests as I have another trip to Australia in the works but it is very very difficult to get first class Qantas reward tickets.

HOw did you get 300k points? And converting would give you 900k Marriott points. I think you could get much more than a week., Marriot gives you fifth night free on award bookings.

SkyCommander · ‎04-10-2018

I'm considering moving 30k of my points to some kind of airline to get 35k which will get me 1 way to Japan in economy and use my Amex points for the return. A few thousand leftover will just go to Marriott account. I also have the problem of should I renew my SPG Amex as that fee will come up in June.

Anonymous · ‎04-10-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I need to decide as well. Have right at 300k points. Question for anyone. Are all the SPG properties going to become Marriott ones? If so, I might convert to Marriott points and would have 1.2 million of those which should let me book something very nice for a week. I also like the idea of transferring to Alaskan Airlines as @K-in-Boston suggests as I have another trip to Australia in the works but it is very very difficult to get first class Qantas reward tickets.
HOw did you get 300k points? And converting would give you 900k Marriott points. I think you could get much more than a week., Marriot gives you fifth night free on award bookings.

Both myself and g/f got the personal and business cards at 35K points each for 140K and combined them into my account Some stays contributed points. Also bought some points recently as they were 2.2 cpp which is lower than I value them so... Also have added quite a few from my Diners Club card. It's not a 1:1 exchange but that's the card we use quite a bit for groceries that earn 3X points per $1 spend.

Will still need to decide if the Marriott transfer is the route that I want to go. Have an existing 325K Marriott/Ritz points so the 1.2 million points would give us a nice trip but I need to familiarize myself with the vacation packpages that they offer. I had been planning on possibly using the SPG points for a stay in Bora Bora and that's why I asked if all the SPG properties are going to become part of Marriott .