The Best Use of Starwood Preferred Guest points I’ve ever made was not for an over-water bungalow in Bora Bora, the Presidential suite at the St Regis in New York, or the W in Vieques.
It was for four round-trip coach tickets which, after taxes and fees, came to $380 plus 40,000 SPG points instead of $2,383.80! Effectively resulting in a return of 4.8 cents per SPG point.
Before we get to the details of my redemption, you may have read stories of achieving 7 or 10 cents per SPG point in “value” when calculating the number of points required to stay at a property…for example, we’re currently in San Sebastian on an award stay. The total cost in points for the room for five nights ended up being 31,200. We’re here for 5 nights and at 12,000 points per night, the way we come to 31,200 points is as such:
- 12,000 points/night (12,000)
- 5 nights (x 5 = 60,000)
- 5th night free (-12,000 = 48,000)
- 35% off award (platinum 2013 gift) (x 0.65 = 31,200)
We’re currently staying in a suite that would have otherwise cost (using the cheapest prepaid rate I could find): $2,856.78 of five nights…so clearly this is a better value, right? I’m getting almost 9.2 cents/point value. It has to better! I don’t think so, and here’s why:
- I can’t consciously see myself paying almost $600/night for a hotel room … maybe if I win the powerball.
- I’d be VERY hard pressed to book a suite directly instead of a standard room. My platinum status with Starwood offers complimentary and confirmable upgrades and I just wouldn’t reserve anything more than a basic room knowing that I stand a good chance for a free upgrade.
- I’d sooner stay at another property and use points in a different program versus paying that much cash for a hotel!
The reason I say these coach flights were the best use ever for me is because of the limited options to the destination and my lack of flexibility in dates/times to make the flights. Here’s some background and why it worked out so well:
- Japan Airlines (JAL) has recently (over a year ago!) formed a partnership with Bangkok Airways, a regional Asian airline. Sara and I flew them earlier this year from Hong Kong to Bangkok so we had no hesitation in flying them again.
- As a part of this new partnership, JAL is offering discounted awards when booking flights on Bangkok Airways through the end of 2014.
- I recently booked a trip for Sara and I to go to Asia in August of next year (more on that in a later post, as I burned some United miles) but wasn’t really sure what we were going to do. Siem Reap and the Maldives sounded good 🙂
- Roundtrip flights under 1,000 miles on Bangkok Airways required just 5,000 JAL miles (plus taxes & fees). This was more than enough for a roundtrip between Bangkok and Siem Reap (at just 414 miles round-trip). Most importantly, Bangkok Airways is the only non-stop option to Siem Reap from Bangkok! Had we paid cash for the flights, it would have cost us $836.40
- Roundtrip flights under 4,000 miles required just 18,000 JAL miles (plus taxes and fees). At 3,937 miles round-trip from Bangkok to Male, we squeaked right under the limit. Had we paid cash for the flights, it would have cost $1,547.40.
Transferring the points and booking the flights could not have been easier. The details:
- JAL is a Starwood Preferred Guest airline transfer partner. For every 20,000 points transferred, you get 5,000 bonus miles. We needed a total of 46,000 miles (5,000 x 2) +(18,000 x 2). I transferred 40,000 SPG points, which translated t0 50,000 JAL miles.
- It says the transfer can take weeks…for me it took 2 business days. Transferred Monday afternoon and it was there Wednesday afternoon when I checked.
- I contacted JAL (1-800-JAL-FONE) and had both itineraries confirmed within 15 minutes. The tickets were issued two days later, which I confirmed on the JAL site.
The kicker in this whole deal was the fact that I probably would have forked out the cash for the flights. We really didn’t want to deal with a connection or awkward flight times and this worked out perfectly for us. Always keep your eyes open to promotions and deals. And always know the possibilities of your reward programs, you might just find a gem like this.
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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Annual Fee: $95 fee waived for the first year
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Bank
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- Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- Named Best Credit Card for Flexible Travel Redemption - Kiplinger's Personal Finance, July 2016
- 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Earn 5,000 bonus points after you add the first authorized user and make a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening
- No foreign transaction fees
- 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 50,000 points are worth $625 toward travel
- No blackout dates or travel restrictions - as long as there's a seat on the flight, you can book it through Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Annual Fee: $95 fee waived for the first year
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Bank
| FTG Review | Reward Breakdown | Points Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
Breakdown
Earn (pt.)
Spend
First 3 months
50,000
$4,000
Travel Purchases
2.00
$1
Restaurants Purchases
2.00
$1
Coffee Shops Purchases
2.00
$1
Fast Food Purchases
2.00
$1
Alcohol & Bars Purchases
2.00
$1
All Purchases
1.00
$1
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