Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Why 25% off Starwood Preferred Guest points means buying airline miles at 1.25p

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UPDATE – NOVEMBER 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.

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Starwood is (again) offering a 10%-25% discount when you purchase SPG Starpoints before 31st May.  The link to buy is here.

The discount is staggered.  You get 10% off purchases of up to 9500 points, 15% off 10000 to 14500, 20% off 15000 to 29500 and the full 25% off only when you buy 20,000 points.

At the top end, 20,000 points will cost you $525. These can be converted in 25,000 airline miles in the majority of programmes. The price per mile works out at 1.25p, which is certainly not a bargain but less than a lot of airlines charge for buying their miles directly.

The rules are straightforward – points post within 24 hours, maximum purchase of 20,000 points per year, your SPG account must be 14 days old to participate.

The ‘sweet spot’ with Starwood was historically their ‘cash and points awards’ for mid-tier properties.  Starwood ‘cash and points’ deals were ‘enhanced’ a while back and offer poorer value than they did, albeit that they are now available at a wider range of properties.

It can still make sense to buy ALL the points you need for a room, though. The Sheraton at Frankfurt Airport, for example, costs €235 on 20th May. Alternatively, you could buy 10,000 SPG points for just $297.50 / €215. The reward night would also be cancellable, whilst the €235 room I quoted is not.

(PS. Qudos to Starwood for one thing.  Last time they ran this offer, you had to buy at least 4,500 points to get a discount.  I wrote at the time:  “This is a practice which I don’t like – I don’t see why someone who only needs a small number of points to top off their account should not receive some sort of discount, even if it was just 10%.”  And, lo and behold, that is what they have done!  Now even the smallest 500 point purchase gets a discount.)


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

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (November 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 for signing up 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

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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 (20)

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

  • Sinizter says:

    Typo – Qudos should Kudos.

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    Nb Also that if 20k is restrictive you can transfer SPG points free of charge between accounts registered at the same address.

  • Jonny says:

    Assuming BA offer the “usual” 25% hotel conversion bonus later in the year (and no changes to the conversion rate in the interim) this would work out v slightly better than 1p per avios if waiting until then to convert.

    • Rob says:

      Yes it would. I am 85% certain that they will re-run this promotion, as it has appeared for the last 5 years or so and is an easy moneymaker for BA.

  • Alan says:

    Well it certainly puts a nice value on the 21k SPG Amex sign up bonus I received 😛 Just booked a 12k Sheraton AMS stay – probably similar value to what you note above.

    • Idrive says:

      I personally like this 25% SPG bonus i bought 20k on 31/12 and might give it another go to stock a pile of jolly points for future AA/BA/VA or M&M moreover now that i am going for the 241BA voucher, 31k BA would not hurt;-) the only pity with AA now is the stopover rule

      • Rob says:

        That rule may change. Now they have scrapped Explorer awards, some redemptions on AA are impossible due to the stopover rule which makes no sense.

        • Alan says:

          Do you mean a situation where an overnight connection is required to physically complete a journey? If so I thought they were still OK with that as long as it was the last flight in/first flight out that was used (ie no prolonged stopovers)

          • Rob says:

            No, I was referring to this rule (quoting View From The Wing): “You cannot connect in a third region. Award travel between two regions cannot touch a third region, unless a specific exception is in place. You cannot fly from the US to Europe to Asia, you have to fly direct from the US to Asia. Again, unless there’s an exception — no American partner flies non-stop form the US to Africa, and it’s possible to use American miles to fly to Africa, because they do make an exception that will allow you to connect in the third region of Europe.”

          • Alan says:

            Ah OK, thanks – agree it would seem bonkers for them not to allow connections in Europe.

  • Jonny says:

    As a slight aside, am looking to save up spg points to use in a nice hotel in New York later in the year.

    Next to no “Points and cash” availability but the best “value” pet point seems to come from the luxury properties- however they’re 30k pts per night.

    If transferring from amex MR am I right in that I get only 1 spg point for 2 mr’s? Are there often bonuses? Sign-up literature is misleading (well, wrong) in thAt it suggests 100k mr’s will get you 5 nights in a cat 6 hotel whereas it’s only half that due to transfer ratio (and likewise 1 night in a cat 4 hotel for 10k whereas you’d need 20k pts to transfer to 10k spg pts).

    • Jonny says:

      Seems there’s not so much value in NYC- W hotels are 20-25k pts a night but cost c$350 whereas luxury ones 30k pts but $750-1000pn. That said I’d never pay that for a room. The 12k/night hotels don’t really appeal unfortunately. Shame no points/cash as that would be perfect.

    • pazza2000 says:

      Can highly recommend the Westin Grand Central at a bargain 12k per night or 48k for 5 nights

      • Idrive says:

        That doesn’t sound bad is it?i ll check the value!

      • Jonny says:

        Thanks, that seems like a smart hotel, excellent value (60k pts for 6 nights for me) and similar location to where I usually stay. Ticks all the boxes!

        Rooms seem fairly large too especially as we’ll be there with our 1-yr old

        Hope it isn’t devalued before I accumulate sufficient points- do spg give notice of devaluations as could always transfer membership rewards at short notice?

        • Michael says:

          How easy is it to find a room for a couple and child via SPG i.e. in NYC but also elsewhere. Is there a difference in point neede for sole traveller, couple, family with a child?
          Also does it work for 3 people in 1 room via the free Hilton night with their creditcard sign up bonus? Thx.

        • Rob says:

          SPG, along with Hyatt, are the two companies you can trust not to massively devalue their programmes overnight – and not to make changes without giving decent notice.

  • bacx says:

    Great spot. Two questions:
    1) Is there US sales tax on top of this?
    2) Does this work with UK credit cards? There was a problem with Alaska airlines earlier this year not letting non-US/Canada/Mexico issued credit cards from purchasing points via points.com

    • Rob says:

      1. Says clearly no tax on the website – I now double check this!

      2. Should be fine with a UK card, I have bought SPG points in the past albeit not for a fee years

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

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