Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) has launched new offer for buying and gifting Starpoints at 35% off that is valid through March 16, 2018.
You can purchase for your account or receive as a gift maximum of 30,000 Starpoints in a calendar year (this used to be 20,000). The account that receives Starpoints must have been open for a minimum of 14 days.
You can access the Starwood SPG Website for this offer here.
READ MORE: SPG Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
And the price:
The price of a Starpoint is 2.28 cents each when the maximum allowed amount is purchased.
Purchase Process:
The receipt states that it may take up to 24 hours for the points to post to your account.
You get an email receipt as well that the purchase has been completed and the points have been deposited to your SPG account.
And there they are immediately without any wait.
Does it make sense to purchase Starpoints at this price?
Starwood has devalued the Starpoints by the yearly category creep. There can be some values left during special events, high season and at lower category properties.
You can also buy Starpoints to convert them to Marriott Rewards points that are cheaper to purchase this way.
This is, however, a good way to purchase partner airline miles at reasonable price. 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.
I would consider to transfer points into accounts where purchasing miles is either not possible or quite expensive such as Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa Miles & More (Lufthansa is only worth it because of the enhanced availability).
You can also consider this as a way to purchase Marriott Rewards points at 0.76 cents each and use them towards Travel Packages (read more here).
Conclusion
This is the highest general discount that Starwood has ever sold Starpoints. They had one Mystery Bonus late 2016 where some accounts had up to 50% discount.
I have purchased Starpoints during these sales and just did buy my allotment for 2018. Those that buy early in the year will likely be able to buy more later just like in 2017.
My plan to use all my Starpoints is eventually to use them towards Marriott Travel Packages. Will probably end up close to 10 category 1 – 5 one week stays…..
Here are the terms and conditions of this sale:
Transactions must be completed between 9:00 AM ET February 1, 2018 and 11:59 PM ET March 16, 2018 to be eligible for the discount. Purchased points do not count towards Preferred Guest, Gold Preferred Guest, or Platinum Preferred Guest Status. Transactions are final and nonrefundable. All other terms and conditions of the Starwood Preferred Guest Program apply.
Please Note: Excluding promo periods, cost is $.035 per point. Purchase up to 30,000 per account per calendar year; points are applicable toward all Starpoint awards but do not count toward elite status. All other Starwood Preferred Guest program rules, terms and conditions apply.