20% Off Starpoint Purchases Through The End Of The Year!

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Update-12/31: Last day for the 20% bonus!

Originally posted on 11/12:

Starwood AMEX Linky 

 The US Mint should be able to help you there in no time!

Starwood is offering 20% off Starpoint purchases until 12/31/09.

Normally it costs 3.5 cents per Starpoint, it’s just 2.8 cents per Starpoint with the promo.

So does it make sense to spend 2.8 cents per Starpoint?  It can if you put them to the right use.

If you’ve got 19,000 Starpoints and want to transfer them to miles then it probably would make sense to buy 1,000 Starpoints for $28.  That way you’ll have 20,000 Starpoints which transfers into 25,000 miles on most airlines (including Flying Blue where 25K is enough miles for a RT trip to Europe, Israel, or Russia with promo awards with some fees) or 50,000 kilometers on LAN (enough kilometers for 3 RT tickets for flights like NYC-Toronto).

Another good use is for Cash and Points hotel awards.  Although these awards aren’t completely unrestricted like regular Starwood hotel awards, they offer great values. Here is how to search for Cash and Points availability. Plus you don’t pay tax on any Starwood hotel rewards.

Here are some examples of hotel stays at various Starwood hotels with the cost of buying all of the required Starpoints to stay there.

Category 1:
Unrestricted award: 3,000 Starpoints. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$84
Weekend award: 2,000 Starpoints. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$56
Cash and Points award: 1,200 Starpoints+$25. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$58.60

Sample hotel: Four Points by Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport, 12/26,
Paid rate: $103USD with tax.
Award rate: 2,000 Starpoints.
Value per Starpoint: 5.2 cents

Category 2:
Unrestricted award: 4,000 Starpoints. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$112
Weekend award: 3,000 Starpoints. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$84
Cash and Points award: 1,600 Starpoints+$30. Total cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$74.80

Sample hotel: Four Points by Sheraton Geelong Victoria Australia, 11/24,
Paid rate: $155USD with tax
Award rate: 1,600 Starpoints+$30.
Value per Starpoint: 7.8 cents

Category 3:
Unrestricted award: 7,000 Starpoints. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$196
Cash and Points award: 2,800 Starpoints+$45. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$123.40

Sample hotel: Westin Harbour Castle Toronto, 11/24,
Paid rate: $260USD with tax,
Award rate: 2,800 Starpoints+$45.
Value per Starpoint: 7.7 cents

Category 4:
Unrestricted award: 10,000 Starpoints. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$280
Cash and Points award: 4,000 Starpoints+$60. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$172

Sample hotel: Westin Melbourne Australia, 12/06,
Paid rate: $290USD,
Award rate: 4,000 Starpoints+$60.
Value per Starpoint: 5.8 cents

Category 5:
Unrestricted award: 12,000 Starpoints. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$336
Cash and Points award: 4,800 Starpoints+$90. Cost @ 2.8 cents per point=$224.40

Sample hotel: Le Méridien Piccadilly London, 11/15,
Paid rate: $380USD,
Award rate: 4,800 Starpoints+$90
Value per Starpoint: 6 cents