SPG Offers More Flight Redemption Options

With much fanfare, Starwood Hotel and Resorts recently announced the expansion of its Starwood Preferred Guest program with the introduction of SPG Flights, a new option that allows members to exchange their Starpoints directly for plane tickets. Since the Starwood American Express is one of the top reward card choices precisely because of its loyalty program, a closer examination of these changes is in order.

As it turns out, the introduction of this new redemption option should only add increased flexibility for SPG members. When you exchange Starpoints directly for plane tickets at spgflights.com, you can select from hundreds of airlines with no blackout dates, and all booking fees and taxes are included in the price. Since the tickets are treated like a cash purchase, members will also earn frequent flyer miles when booking through SPG Flights. Tickets can be booked in economy, business or first class, for either domestic or international travel.

While this increased flexibility is certainly attractive, the reason that most members will not take advantage of this option is that it presents a relatively poor value compared to hotel stays. Redeeming at SPGFlights yields between 1 to 1.5 cents per Starpoint, as shown in the following chart:

Ticket Price Starpoints
up to $150 10,000
$150-$215 15,000
$215-$280 20,000
$280-$345 25,000
$345-$410 30,000
$410-$475 35,000
$475-$540 40,000
$540-$605 45,000
$605-$670 50,000
$670-$735 55,000
$735-$800 60,000
$800-$865 65,000
$865-$930 70,000
$930-$995 75,000
$995-$1060 80,000

It should be pointed out that SPG Flights does provide greater flexibility than transferring Starpoints to an airline to receive miles for flights. Tickets are available for some airlines that are not currently SPG airline transfer partners. In addition, since you don’t need to transfer points, you can book your tickets quicker and not be constrained by any miles redemption rules.

So while it may not always be the best deal for your points, more choice is always welcome and there are certainly situations where this new option would be useful.

For more info, see www.spgflights.com.

As a bonus, you can fill out the following survey on SPG Flights to earn an easy 250 Starpoints.

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One comment

  • Couldn’t agree more. The Starwood card is often misunderstood but the best deal out there — precisely because of the flexibility. The easy hotel nights are great — and the ability to transfer points directly into most airline miles programs is almost too good to be true.

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