One of SPG’s great benefits is the ability to transfer their points to over 30 airlines, most at a 1:1 ratio. As an added benefit, for every 20,000 points transferred, they will give a bonus of 5,000 miles for a total of 25,000 miles transferred.
20% Bonus on SPG Points Transferred to US and AA
The best way to earn AA miles is actually not with the Citi American Airline cards but with the SPG cards (personal or business). The reason is that, unless you are making AA purchases, you will only earn 1 mile per dollar spent with the AA cards. With the SPG cards, you effectively earn 1.25 AA miles per dollar (if you transfer your SPG points to AA in blocks of 20,000 points). That is better than AA’s own cards!
And it gets even better through the month of July. Through July 31, any transfer made to AA from SPG will include an additional bonus of 20%. That means that if you transfer 20,000 SPG points, you will end up with 30,000 AA miles.
Just like almost everything else that has recently come from the new AA, this bonus is also applicable to US Airways. Just like AA, this is hardcoded into the US Air system so it will automatically register the transfer and give you the extra 20% bonus.
It also means that if you do not have 20,000 SPG points but still want some bonus miles, you could go ahead and transfer now and still get that 20% bonus. This promo does not require any registration on your part and will automatically reflect the increased bonus after reaching your account from SPG (which takes a few days).
Another great option is to use the SPG Nights & Flights option which basically gives you a free 10,000 points when booking flights and hotels as a package deal. The flight portion transfers to your airline of choice as 50,000 miles (with this bonus, you would end up with 60,000 miles). The lowest Nights & Flights package is 60,000 SPG points to get 5 nights at a category 3 and 50,000 miles (60,000 if those miles are transferred to AA/US through this promo). That is really a great deal and something to consider!
Points Posting
If you have a statement closing date in the middle of July on your SPG card, you still have plenty of time to get some spending on it to transfer them before the end of the month (points post to your SPG account within one week after the statement closes, normally more like a few days).
Should You Do It?
SPG points are very valuable and they offer a lot of options to the traveler. They are also some of the hardest to come by since there are no bonus categories with the credit card. That means spending $1,000 on it will result in 1,000 points (unless that spending is done at a SPG hotel).
On the other hand, AA miles are currently the most valuable for those who desire to fly in premium cabins since they have not devalued (yet). But, there are many great ways to get AA miles from many AA credit cards (including the 100K Citi Executive card that is still hanging around). AA has been running so many bonuses and minting the miles like crazy so I will not be surprised if the anticipated devaluation occurs within the next couple of months.
Because of those two points, I would only participate in this bonus offer if you really need the AA miles to book a trip in the coming month or two. Otherwise, there are some other good options that you can use your SPG points on if you do not have travel in mind right now.
What do you think?
