Clarification On What Makes The Starwood Card The Best Credit Card To Use…

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Based on several emails and comments there seems to be a lot of confusion about this card…
People are asking questions ranging from are there are blackout dates, to why am i recommending a points card if im such a big fan of mileage cards…

I’m not sure if i can make it any clearer than I did in the Starwood roundup, but I’ll try to simplify the advantages of using it.

–The are 2 huge disadvantages of a points card (citi thank-you points, capital one, etc.)
1. Unlike with real airline miles, they cap the limit that the ticket can cost, and usually require 3 weeks advance purchase with a saturday night stay.
2. They don’t typically offer the huge 20-25k bonus miles when you sign up.

Therefore I strongly recommend a mileage card.

-There are 2 disadvantages of a mileage card:
1. There is often a large ($60-$85) annual fee after the first free year.
2. You are limited to the miles and mileage availability of the airline of the credit card you earn on.

The Starwood card solves all of these issues and then some.

Scenario:
You’re in los angeles and need to get to nyc by tommorow night.
-Buying a ticket will set you back a whopping $550+ RT…
-If you have Capital One Miles or Thank-You points you are out of luck, those cards require 2-3 week advance purchase.
-If you have an American/Continental/Delta/United card you may be in luck depending on if your airline has mileage tickets, but what if you only earned AA miles and only United has a 25,000 mile ticket?
-If you have a Starwood card you can take just 20,000 points and turn them into 25,000 miles on the airline that has the 25,000 mile award available!!!

So the starwood card has the best of both worlds:
1. It is only $30 a year after the first free year.
2. Only 20,000 points are required to have 25,000 miles
3. You aren’t limited to the one airline that you earn the miles on, because you can transfer the points you earn onto any airline!
4. If you would rather have free hotel stays, hotel rewards start at just 2,000 points!
5. By having the card you get free preffered plus status getting you free upgrades and 4 pm late checkouts at any Starwood (Westin, Sheraton, etc.)
6. By having the card you get the ability to transfer points to household members for free!

With just that it is easily the best card to use, but Starwood will also give you 10,000 points for opening the card, and since there are 2 cards, a consumer and a business card you can start off with 20,000 points=25,000 miles on the airline of your choice by opening both cards. They are both free for 1 year, and $30 in subsequent years.
Signing up for a business card is easy, just name your own business and you’re all set!

It also is the only Amex airline card that comes with all of Amex’s premium card benefits, including my favorite, the ability to return anything bought on the card back to Amex for up to 3 months, and an extra year of warranty coverage on anything that you buy!

In summary:
With this card you will earn 1 Starwood point for each dollar that you spend. You will then be able to call up Starwood to transfer 20,000 points into 25,000 miles on over 30 airlines. There are obviously no blackout dates, because the main point of this card is to earn Starpoints, which can then be transferred into airline miles at a 1:1.25 ratio.

Like i said in the starwood roundup, my favorite airline to transfer Starpoints to, is (at a 1:1.25 ratio) Cathay Pacific, which will in turn fly you from the US to Europe on British Airways in business class for just 60,000 miles! While Cathay Pacific doesnt have a credit card to earn miles on directly the Starwood Amex provides a great avenue to earn miles on them.

That’s enough ranting on my part…now apply for both of these cards and start using the best credit card on the market today!

Remember, friends don’t let friends use a Capital One Card, show them this post today!!!

Starwood Consumer Amex Signup Linky
Starwood Business Amex Signup Linky