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American Express Starwood

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Verdict – NerdWallet estimates rewards are about 2.3% when redeemed at Starwood hotels.

How much is a Starwood Hotels Starpoint worth?

We recommend you redeem at hotels, where points are worth about 2.3 cents each (see our tables below). The other alternative is to redeem for airline miles. You can exchange 20,000 Starpoints for 25,000 airline miles on most US airlines, with the exception of United and Continental. In that scenario a Starpoint is worth about 1.25 cents.

How does the Starwood Preferred Guest card work?

The card links up to your Starwood account, and earns 1 point per $1 spent on purchases, and 2 points per $1 spent at Starwood hotels. See our review of the Starwood Points program for more details on how we arrive at our 2.3 cent point value assumption. In exchange for these benefits, there is an annual fee of $45, which is waived the first year. The APR is average as far as top rewards credit cards go.

Are there other cards with better rewards?
This depends on how you redeem your Starpoints. A good way to find out is by looking at redemption options on our Starpoints Reward Program Review, and assessing what you think is realistic. The easiest way to compare cards is by using our credit card comparison tool and sorting by Rewards, but suffice to say that the Starwood card is one of the best options out there for any usage pattern.

Are there other cards with better rates?
Again, we point you towards our low APR credit card comparison tool where you can sort by Effective Annual Rate. Our calculation takes into consideration introductory APR periods, and ongoing APR rates. There are many better alternatives than SPG, the options are too numerous to list.

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  • Nick G

    I’ve had this card for years, and I don’t think much has changed — it’s still the best points card anywhere. While the cash cost of Starwoods Hotel rooms has gone down slightly, this might push hotel night redemption from 3-4 cents to maybe 2.5-3.5 cents, not much lower as indicated above. 3 of the last 4 hotel bookings I’ve done using the card were over 3 cents per point, based on the published cash rate for the room.

    Best points card available…. if you like Starwood Hotels.

  • Steve D

    I am not sure I totally understand the analysis here. I feel that relying on the $ value of a point is not the right measure.

    Let us take an example. Consider two different cardholders, one with Starwood AmEx and another with Hilton Honors AmEx (the no annual fee version). Each cardholder wants 25,000 airline miles, which corresponds to about $250.

    Starwood: To get 25,000 airline miles, you need 20,000 points. For best case scenario, assume that all points are received via stays at eligible Starwood hotels. Thus $1 gets you 2 points. So, to get 20,000 points, you need to spend $10,000.

    Hilton: To get 25,000 airline miles, you need about 166,666 miles (using a conversion of 10,000 points equal to 1,500 miles). For a best case scenario similar to Starwood, assume all points are via eligible Hilton stays. Thus, $1 gets you 16 points (9 points for the stay, 1 point of airline mile with the Double Dip rewards, and 6 additional points for the use of the card). Thus, to get 166,666 miles, you need to spend about $10,416.

    A similar analysis can be made while considering that the two cardholders do not earn points through stays but via other purchases.

    Thus the two cards are quite comparable in the dollars to be spent for the rewards ($10,000 vs. $10,416).

    Hence, stating that Starwood rewards is worth 1.23% while Hilton is 0.5% may not be accurate comparison.

    I think that the problem with using "value of 1 point" analysis is that you ignore the number of points that each $1 spent get you.

    • nerdwallet

      Hi Steve, thanks for the feedback. If I understand your comment correctly, then our "value of 1 point" uses the same calculation that you are detailing.

      We look in detail at reward redemption values and estimate their point values based on the best options we find. Based off of these numbers, at the moment we estimate the redemption value of Starwood points to be 2.3 cents, and Hilton HHonors points to be 0.5 cents (but you earn 3 points per $1 spent, so it's a 1.5% reward rate).

      We also factor in promotional bonuses and the number of points earned in bonus categories to determine an estimated annual dollar amount of rewards.

  • Greg

    Saying this card gets you a 25,000 intro bonus is misleading — you don't state that you need to spend $15,000 in 6 months to get most of it. How is that going to happen when I input $1,500 per month as my monthly spend?

    But then, like most of the results that magically appear top ranked on this site, this is a sponsored card, with things balanced to favor it in the listings. Wonder how much the kickback is for the site…

    • nerdwallet

      Hi Greg, great catch! Either we overlooked the $15,000 required spend upfront, or it's been changed recently and we weren't aware. Either way I put in a temporary fix that should make it more clear, and we'll be working on a permanent fix to make it 100% accurate.

      As for your belief that we are magic, that is unfortunately not true. As you can see, the calculations for the rewards and APRs on all of our cards are as transparent as possible, and we clearly label "Sponsored" cards. In fact, less than 10% of our cards are sponsored, as you'll see if you start drastically changing the inputs, or if you are looking for a Student or Business card, since a lot of the "Sponsored" cards that you see will disappear from the rankings.

      If you feel we are being unfair, feel free to skip to lesser ranked cards and apply for one that is unsponsored. That's what they're there for, we don't mind!

    • nerdwallet

      Also, if you feel we've made any errors with any other sponsored cards, and you feel they should be ranked lower for any reason, please let us know!

  • Scott C

    @Steve D,

    For Starwood calculation, you forgot to include the 2 points per dollar you get for you stay through the SPG program (3 if you are elite). So, to get 20,000 points with all of it being hotel stays, it’s $5,000 spend, not $10,0000 (2 per dollar for Amex card, 2 per dollar directly through SPG). Assuming your calculation for Hilton is accurate at $10,416, the Starwood card is much better redemption value. Of course, the reality is that it won’t all be hotel spend. And the HHonors card offers you three points on everyday purchases, while SPG card only offers one point for everyday purchases. So the calculation gets a little more complicated. That said, for airline miles, I’m pretty sure the SPG card beats the HHonors card even on everyday spend because part of the boost to the HHonors calculation you did above depends on getting the double dip opportunity from hotel spend which wouldn’t apply for everyday spend. Now if you’re redeeming for hotel stays, I think the cards are closer to each other in value.

  • Alex H

    Does it make sense to have a Gold Amex and a Starwood Amex together? If you have to choose between the two, which one would you pick and why?

    • http://www.nerdwallet.com NerdWallet

      Hey Alex, it’s fine to have them both if you don’t mind eating $175 + $65 = $240 worth of annual fees each year.

      They’re both very different cards, but I would have to choose Starwood. Starpoints are much more valuable than Membership Rewards when redeemed for hotel stays (2.3% vs 1% with MRP). Plus both can be exchanged for airline miles.

      That said, if you don’t often stay at pricey hotels like the Westin, W, Sheraton, or St. Regis, then Starpoints won’t be of much value to you.

  • Wesley

    Maybe I got the wrong info today, but when I talked to a amex cust service person, they said that Membership rewards can be transfered to starpoints at a 1:1 ratio. Can anyone confirm this?

    • http://www.nerdwallet.com NerdWallet

      Hey Wesley, I think it’s only a 1:3 ratio, so that 1,000 MRPs are worth 333 Starpoints. But if that’s not the case, and it’s really 1:1, then all the Amex charge cards are a lot more valuable than we give them credit for.

      If anyone has experience making this transfer, however, I’d love to hear the details.

  • Wesley

    I totally got the wrong information. Yes, it is 1:3 which makes it totally worthless to transfer MR points to Starpoints.

  • http://twitter.com/naturelover60 Shannon Risner

    I always use Starwood points for our trips to the Maldives. You can get a ~$300 room at the W for 10,000 points, or do a points plus flights package which is also an amazing deal.

    • Gaow Michelle

      Can you tell me more about how you use this card at the W in the Maldives? We have a lot of points and want to use them for our honeymoon,

    • Nick Gidwani

      Can you tell me how you do this? I have specifically tried to book the W in the Maldives with points, but since it is a Suite-only hotel, they are asking for nearly 100,000 points per night, and the rack rate is about $1,155 nightly. I am getting Sheraton madives at 20k/night which is a $800 room — so thats very good redemption, but certainly not the W

  • Mcclure77

    I’m confused.  The reward rate here is listed at 2.3, but from what I read, it is only 1 point per dollar spent.  Are you trying to average out what might be earned if you happened to stay in a hotel and pick up the bonus?   I would love to see a true comparison between just dollars spent rather than if you happened to by X products or services.

    • http://www.nerdwallet.com/ Tim

      The reward rate is listed as 2.3% because our analysis has shown that
      Starwood points are worth about 2.3 cents each. You earn 1 Starpoint per
      dollar spent, but those Starpoints are worth more than the 1 cent that is
      standard with rewards credit cards.

      The reason for this is because Starwood points can be redeemed for free
      nights at luxury hotels at a much more valuable reward rate than just 1 cent
      per point.

      This is the only way to draw a true comparison, because a similar credit
      card could offer 3 points per dollar, but if those points are only worth
      0.33 cents each, then the card really only pays 1%, not 3%, as the number of
      points would imply.

      • Mcclure77

        Ok, so when comparing the venture card with this card, you are saying that you get a 2 cent value for it, whereas you get a 2.3 cent value with the starwood?  What is the best way to tell what that actually buys you?  I see your price comparison breakdown, but is that actual value dollars?  Or reward dollars?  (if that makes sense)

        • http://www.nerdwallet.com/ Tim

          Great question. All of our comparisons are in real dollars, not “rewards
          dollars.” Since rewards dollars can literally represent anything, we feel
          that the only way to compare apples-to-apples with rewards credit cards is
          to break everything down into real (estimated) dollar amounts.

  • Mcclure77

    So I have noticed that no matter what monthly amount you put in for your monthly spending, this still calculates the fact that you will receive the signing bonus for this card.  In order to qualify for the whole 25k, you have to spend 15k in 6 months.  This means that nothing lower than 2500 a month will get you that bonus.  Why does your calculator not take this into account?  That being the case, what is the best way to actually tell if this card would still be your best best, assuming that you cannot hit this?  (since mortgage, student loans, etc are not payable via CC)

    • http://www.nerdwallet.com/ Tim

      My rule of thumb for this card is that it’s generally only the best card for
      people who travel a lot and stay in luxury hotels. If you don’t see
      yourself flying around the world and crashing at the Westin or St. Regis,
      then this card probably isn’t the best travel bet for you. It only earns
      it’s maximum reward rate when redeemed for hotel nights at these places.

      I personally prefer the Capital One Venture or Sapphire Preferred, since I
      like more flexibility and I don’t do a lot of “luxury travel.”

      • Mcclure77

        That’s a little the direction I am leaning.  Although, I have a co-worker who swears by this card, and I don’t believe she is always staying in luxury hotels.  I haven’t been able to get any great data on using these points for airfare, as far as exactly how well these points convert to dollars for that. 

        • http://www.nerdwallet.com/ Tim
          • Mcclure77

            ooh very nice!  Thanks!

        • http://www.nerdwallet.com/ Tim

          And don’t get me wrong, it’s a great card. Everyone I know who has it also
          swears by it. You don’t necessarily have to stay at the Westin all the time
          to earn good rewards, that’s just where it’s most powerful.

          I’ve fought an internal battle for years about this card and have just never
          quite been sold on it.

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