Buy SPG Points – get a business class flight to India for $730?

Points.com are currently running a promotion (until 30th April 2017) to buy SPG points.

500 StarPoints will cost $17.50

The first discount bracket is 10%, 5,000 to 9,500 Starpoints for $157.50 to $283.50 respectively.

• 10,000 – 14,500 will get 15% discount
• 15,000 – 19,500 will get 20% discount
• 20,000 – 30,000 will get the maximum discount of 30%

Therefore the greatest discount and maximum miles purchasable is 30,000 for $735.00 (usually $1050.00).

Link to buy is here and you must have an SPG and Points.com account beforehand (both are free to signup).

Should I buy SPG Points though?

Well, there are (at least) two schools of thought on this issue, and it all comes down to how you define value.

Value is ALWAYS in the ‘eye of the beholder' on these deals, as discussed here and here previously.

At first glance, this is a terrific opportunity in a few circumstances:-

• If you're new to the travel hacking game and want to collect lots of points quickly
• If you need to ‘top up' your SPG account, for an award night or to transfer to an airline partner
• If you like the idea of using points and miles for a Business or First Class award flight, such as Etihad Business Class (as described here)

However, if you are an experienced travel hacker or knowledgeable in the points and miles game, you'll know the value given for these points is quite poor.

There are better ways to earn similar amounts of points, either by different means (e.g. credit card sign ups) or that will may take longer to collect

If I buy SPG points, how should I use them?

One of the main reasons why Starwood Preferred Guest SPG Points/Starpoints are revered is their flexibility. Not only can you use them for hotel award nights at SPG properties, but there are many airline partners to transfer to – such as Qatar, American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Avios etc.

As an added bonus, the ‘exchange rate' is usually quite generous, and for every 20,000 Starpoints transferred you will be gifted a BONUS 5,000.

Finally, on sporadic occasions, airlines such as American Airlines AAdvantage run promotions where  they offer bonus miles for transferring. I've moved 40,000 Starpoints during such a promotion and received 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles in return.

Be Careful !

As always with travel hacking, the Golden Rule is to have a goal in place first. Although SPG Starpoints are very flexible, airline and hotel loyalty programs devalue and if you're not using the points, you'll lose the advantage of buying them cheap.

My recommendation when you should buy SPG Points

For promotions like this to beneficial, it's worth spending time before buying in checking your plan first.

For example, it's very tempting to spend $735 knowing 30,000 Starpoints could get you an Etihad Business Class flight from Middle East to India.

Here is the American Airlines AAdvantage Oneworld (Qatar, Etihad etc.) partner award chart

However, BEFORE you buy the points and transfer, do two things :-

1. allow enough transfer time for the points to be received into SPG then transferred to AAdvantage (or wherever)
2. ensure there is a lot of availability for award space (using the method here to check)

Will you be buying SPG points, or have you done before? How did you use them? Let us know using the comments below - we love hearing from you!