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American is offering a 25% bonus for converting select hotel points into miles through 5/31.
A transfer of 20K Starpoints normally converts into 25K AA miles, but will become 31,250 AA miles with this promotion, for an effective 1.5625 miles per Starpoint.
Unfortunately, this bonus is not applicable for Marriott miles+nights travel packages.
Back in 2010 when these SPG-AA bonuses started you were able to rack up hundreds of thousands of Starpoints thanks to the US Mint, miles transferred to AA counted for million miler status, and AA had an awesome round-the-world award chart. I took advantage of all of those, but they no longer exist.
During 2015’s bonus I cautioned that Americanâs award chart was âso much better than their competitionâs award charts that you canât help but wonder when the devaluation will comeâŚâ
The devaluation came and it made their award chart downright terrible. Then the other shoe fell when American made their saver awards far more difficult to find than on any other airline.
So why would you transfer valuable Starpoints to American?
Some routes have had more award space of late. Plus American still has valuable partner awards. You’ll have to hunt for them as many partner awards are only bookable over the phone, such as Air Tahiti Nui, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, JAL, Qatar, and more.
For example I used 105K American miles to fly last March in an apartment on Etihad Shower Class from the Maldives to Cleveland via Abu Dhabi and JFK.
Though because of the #ElectronicsBan, I was stuck having to take pictures with my GoPro:
And my phone:
Just be sure to compare Americanâs requirements with other airlines before transferring.
In this post I compared how many miles are required to fly on every OneWorld route from JFK.
Just for example, I flew from JFK to Vancouver in Cathay Pacific First Class for 35K Alaska miles. That same flight would have cost 55K AA miles. Non-elites would also have paid American a $75 last-minute fee which Alaska doesnât charge, so be sure to do your research before you transfer.
-The names on the Starwood account and the AA account must match or the transfer will be rejected. You are able to transfer Starpoints for free between people living at the same address, though if you are changing the address on one of the accounts youâll have to wait 30 days before transferring Starpoints to someone elseâs Starwood account.
-The 25% bonus miles fulfilled by American will be posted within 7 business days after the initial conversion activity has been posted by Starwood Preferred Guest. The initial transfer usually takes a couple of days. You can hold an AA award for 5 days which is enough time for the transfer to process.
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36 Comments On "25% Bonus For Transferring Starwood Starpoints To American For An Effective 56.3% Bonus"
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Dan, would this make transferring membership reward points to Starwood and then American worthwhile?
What ratio do you have for AMEX:SPG? How do you value AA miles?
what is the max you can transfer to get the additional 25%
No limit, though SPG has a limit of how many points you can transfer every 24 hours.
Recently I traveled to a city that had American Airline reduced awards. This brought the price of a round trip down 7500 miles in addition to 10% credit card rebate. A ticket that retails for 25k on all airlines now cost 15,750 AA miles.
Great deal !
You were fortunate. Finding saver space is very difficult. I just checked space for May and the calendar is greyed out except for 1 day. Also, if your travel is less than 21 days out you are charged $75.
What dates did this go in effect? I just transferred 180k Starwood points to AA miles in the last 30 days
From April 15, 2018 at 12:01 a.m. Central Time through May 31, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time
AA stinks
if you don’t have any plans for now to use AA miles its definitely not worth transferring
I travel a lot from nj to lax. I’ve had more success getting last minute flights on AA from phl. United from ewr to lax has terrible availability close in. Does help that I have gold lifetime with aa so I don’t pay close in fee
Exactly.
can it get me to Israel?
From North America? Very unlikely without added surcharges. You can try on Finair but availability is rare. You can get totally ripped off on fees with British. Iberia will cost you too though not as bad. You can fly through Amman on RJ if you want but I think there are still added fees that way.
dan anyway to avoid the american airlines close in fee? or maybe a long time ago was there a way to avoid it?
when you sing your wife up for the barclasy aa card can i use the same ffn in order to keep all the points organized in one account not to confusr things? did you ever do that? thank you
whats the best way to fly inbound to the maldives? you only mentioned how you took the flight outbound what about inbound thanks
Emirates, Etihad, Cathay, Singapore, lots of amazing airlines fly there.
Dan, so it seems that Alaska is by far the best way to book Cathay.
1) whatâs the best way to get Alaska miles (either through xfer or spend)
2) do you see that changing anytime soon?
Thanks
Starwood/Marriott.
No idea.
alaska cc?
Do you recommend converting spg miles to aa or just leave spg where it is
Not without a specific use.
Thanks
Dans. Why always feel the need to brag about things that are not relevant!….
you were able to rack up hundreds of thousands of Starpoints thanks to the US Mint, miles transferred to AA counted for million miler status, and AA had an awesome round-the-world award chart. I took advantage of all of those, but they no longer exist
It gives perspective on why this used to be much more of a no brainier than it is today.
we love reading about it its enjoyable to read about his experiences
So basically this is a post on how to transfer, but we shouldn’t do it?
No, you should only do it if you have a specific redemption in mind.
You never mentioned anything about registering for this promotion, however I got an email today saying that I have to register first. Problem is I already transferred the points on Friday đ
i need to reserve a tkt JFK-MEl in Aug. AA rewards show 40000 (i dont have enough miles with AA).
on the other hand have a lot of BA AVIOS which I dont use much, but same flight would cost me 62500 miles.
what do I do? transfer from SPG to AA or SPG is too valuable comparing to AVIOS (in my case) ?
I did this transfer my Starwood points to AA but didnât get my 25% bonus
I tried calling both Starwood and AA both claimed no such promo
Has anyone else tried and been successful
Any help would be appreciated
Did you register for the promo?
Yes
“The 25% bonus miles fulfilled by American will be posted within 7 business days after the initial conversion activity has been posted by Starwood Preferred Guest.”
But when I call them they both say they know nothing about it ask me where I say promo and they tell me thatâs not on either of their sites
Where did you originally get the info from
Thank
Just wait the 7 business days.