Using Starpoints – Nights and Flights

The promo offer has expired, so the current offer is 10,000 Starpoints after 1st purchase and 15,000 additional Starpoints after spending $5,000 in 6 months.

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Personal Card – Application

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Business Card – Application

To help you determine what you can do with those points, I thought it would be good to show a few examples from some of the many redemption offers that Starwood gives. Today, I will highlight the Nights and Flights redemption offer.

With Nights and Flights, you are using 60,000 or 70,000 Starpoints to have 50,000 miles deposited into your airline account (only airlines that have 1:1 transfer rations, so no United unfortunately) and 5 nights at a Category 3 or a Category 4 hotel. Within that redemption method, you have two options – Nights and Flights (which requires 60,000 points for 50,000 airline miles and a 5 night stay at a Category 3 hotel) or Nights and Flights II (which requires 70,000 points for 50,000 airline miles and a 5 night stay at a Category 4 hotel). How this breaks down is like this:

1. When you transfer into airline miles, you receive a 5,000 mile bonus for every 20,000 points you transfer – so 40,000 points for 50,000 miles
2. When you stay 5 nights at a hotel, you get the 5th night free. For a Category 3, that means it would cost 28,000 points and 40,000 points for a Category 4.
3. So, if you redeem for Nights and Flights (category 3), you are actually being given 8,000 Starpoints in your redemption – 40,000 points for airline + 28,000 points for 5th Night Free = 68,000 points. Nights and Flights costs 60,000 points
4. If you redeem for Nights and Flights II (category 4), you are actually being given 10,000 Starpoints in your redemption – 40,000 points for airline + 40,000 points for 5th Night Free = 80,000 points. Nights and Flights II costs 70,000 points

If you compare the above, you find that you are receiving the best redemption method of the two by redeeming for a Nights and Flights II since you are pulling out an extra 2,000 points in the redemption. Either way makes an excellent use of your Starpoints. Let’s look at some sample itineraries to give you an idea of how to use this.

Nights and Flights 

New York City – San Diego

I picked some random dates this coming winter – February 6 – 11. I chose Delta as my airline transfer partner (though you can also transfer to other airlines, such as US Airways). I found many dates with low availability (may be different depending on your airport) and was able to get the non-stop flights.

This actual tickets costs $350.

For our hypothetical stay, I chose the Sheraton Suites San Diego at Symphony Hall.

Here is the cost if not paid for with points:

The total cost of this trip is $2,247 for the hotel and $349 per person for the flight = $2,945. To redeem this with Nights and Flights, it costs 60,000 points. This gives us a point valuation of 4.9 cents per point. Pretty good!

To book a Nights and Flights, you need to call 888-625-4988 (for general members), 888-625-4990 (for Gold Preferred Guests), 888-625-4991 (for Platinum Preferred Guests) to book your package. You do need to make sure that your flights are available before you book your trip. Here is the site with all of the information about the package – link.

Now, here is the good news. You can earn those 60,000 points with applying for a personal SPG and business SPG (25,000 bonus points for each and then the additional 5,000 points for each for the required spending). Or you can get the 60,000 points if two people each apply for one of the cards (like my wife and I did). Either way, in the example above, each card app could earn you a total value of almost $1,500 in points!

 

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.