Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) has launched a new offer for those that would like to purchase some Starpoints. You can get up to 25% discount for buying minimum of 20,000 points. This offer is valid until December 31, 2014.
You can purchase for your account or receive as a gift maximum of 20,000 Starpoints in a calendar year. The account that receives Starpoints must have been open for a minimum of 14 days.
You can access this offer on SPG’s website here.
The discount percentage is dependent on the amount of Starpoints you buy.
The price of the 20,000 Starpoints are $525. The price of a Starpoint is 2.62 cents each.
Doe it make sense to purchase Starpoints at this price?
Starwood has greatly devalued the Starpoints by the yearly category creep and by changing the Cash & Points program last year. There can be some values left during special events and high season.
This is, however, a good way to purchase partner airline miles at 2.1 cents each. You can convert 20,000 Starpoints to 25,000 airline miles in most partner programs (not on United’s and some others – see the table below).
You can do even better if you wait for a conversion bonus offer that airline programs often have.
Conclusion
I would only purchase Starpoints if you are planning to convert them to airline miles or if you have some special use for them.
Remember that you can make the purchase using several SPG accounts and later pool them all into one account as long as the addresses are same. Don’t open fictitious accounts, however.