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Starpoints for 2.3 cents or Airlines Miles for 1.82 cents
There has been much discussion about the new Marriott and Starwood combined program. Let’s not go there. Instead, let’s focus on a great deal to purchase Starpoints to convert into Airline Miles. I’m sure most of already know that 20k SPG = 25k Airline miles, and they have a long list of partners. You can purchase 30k miles per account, per year, and your account has be at least 14 days old. But, remember, if you live in the same household, you can combine your SPG points with another person. So technically, a couple could buy 30k points each, transfer into one account, and convert the 60k SPG into 75k Airline Miles. That’s a spectacular deal. Of course, as I always say, don’t do this speculatively, but if you have a redemption in mind – this is a great offer!
Buy SPG Points with a 35% discount until May 31st.
The cost breakdown:
In case you’ve forgotten the transfer partners
We recently wrote an entire article on some of the best uses of SPG points – go here to read.
One of the best uses is to transfer to Alaska. You could redeem it for Cathay Pacific First Class (feature pic) or Qantas First Class for just 70k miles or $1274.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Points Boost
- each account anniversary you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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