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New: earn Starwood Preferred Guest points with every Uber ride

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This one certainly came out of nowhere.  It is a very decent offer, especially if you are concerned about SPG points expiring due to lack of activity.

Full details can be found here.

You earn 1 Starwood Preferred Guest point for every US$1 or equivalent you spend with taxi app Uber.  Points will post 2-4 weeks after your ride.

Uber SPG

I value SPG points at 1.5p.  Given the current $ exchange rate, you would be getting 2.25p of hotel stay for every £1 you spend on Uber cars.

Full details can be found here.  In summary:

You MUST have stayed at a Starwood hotel this year to participate.  It looks like only cash stays count.  Once you have done one stay you are eligible to earn points from Uber until 31 January 2016.  After that date, another cash stay from 2016 will be required.

If you have not had a Starwood stay this year, you can still link your Uber account.  You will not begin to earn points until after you have completed a (paid?) stay.

If you take an Uber ride on a day when you are checked into a Starwood hotel, you earn 2-4 points per $1 depending on your SPG status

You can take part irrespective of what status you have in Starwood Preferred Guest

You must link your SPG and Uber accounts via this website.  The email addresses and surname must match.  Your points will be automatically deposited with SPG.

You can earn a maximum of 10,000 points per year (excluding bonus points for rides on days you are staying with SPG)

If you have not used Uber before, it is now operating in London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham – plus another 250 cities globally.

You can have a free £15 credit towards your first ride by downloading the app via this link or using the Android or iOS app store directly and inputting code ‘HEADFORPOINTS’ on the payment settings page.

This is a neat offer.  SPG are valuable enough to be worth claiming.  The fact that it stops your SPG points from expiring by creating activity on your account is even better.

On Saturday, Uber is running a competition whereby 460 people will win 15,000 SPG points – worth £225 or so.  If you are in London on Saturday you have a chance of winning.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (35)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • andy21 says:

    So is the competition on Saturday that you win the points if you happen to be picked up in the SPG branded car? And that you can still win if your account is linked even if you’ve not completed your stay to qualify to earn Starpoints?

    • Rob says:

      Rules vary – in one place it says account must be linked first, elsewhere it says you have 30 days grace to register.

  • Charlie says:

    Am I right in saying you do not need to stay at a SPG hotel to start earn SPG points with Uber?

    I never stay with SPG, but do user Uber a lot, the SPG would be a nice little bonus.

    • Alan says:

      No – as Raffles put in bold in the article, you need to stay at an SPG hotel to start earning SPG points with Uber!

      • Charlie says:

        Thanks… not sure if I will stay in an SPG this year but I’ll link my account anyway.

  • Chris says:

    In a SPG uber. How exciting. It’s a W hotel one with toiletry bag.

    • Rob says:

      Well done! I have the app open here in SW3 but no SPG cars available.

      Annoying one of our kids is ill so I am restricted in my ability to dash off even if I can get one!

      • Chris says:

        I was on the underground in Kennington heading to central London (where I thought I’d have more chance), and an SPG under popped up in E&C. Lucky timing I guess.

        Heading to White City. So probably be a free one there in about 20 mins.

        • Rob says:

          Was putting my boys shoes on, car comes up, by time I could get to the phone it had gone!

    • RIccati says:

      Thank you. I thought they don’t exist. Seems you have to hail them on a street to catch… (with an iphone and continually refreshing app)

      Does the new option appear on the bottom bar when the app is open? Checking in Kings X area, none so far.

      • Rob says:

        Yes, appears on bottom of app if your SPG account is linked.

        • Chris says:

          The SPG option doesn’t appear on my partners which was successfully linked.

          It appears on mine though. I also get a email from Uber today about the promotion. My partner didn’t.

          So if you don’t see the option could be a problem with the linking.

          • RIccati says:

            OK, I am getting slightly obsessed.

            Does SPG option (that star icon) appear on app permanently and just stays unavailable? Or does it appear momentarily?

            The bar is already full with uberX, uberXL, EXEC, LUX, Taxi options. Does it mean you have to swipe to see “SPG”.

            I have a confirmation email from SPG that accounts were successfully linked. But no email from Uber.

          • Rob says:

            Appears permanently at far left.

          • RIccati says:

            Thank you Raffles. It does not appear for me. SPG and Uber accounts linked, just checked says “already” linked. iPhone rebooted. Uber app deleted and re-installed completely. No SPG option in the app.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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