ENDING SOON: Best Ever Purchase SPG Points Deal! Up to a 50% Discount!

This is a quick reminder that Starwood’s unbelievable deal on purchasing SPG points is ending on December 31, 2016. There are times when purchasing points to redeem at a Starwood property might actually be cheaper then paying for the going rate at the hotel directly. Unfortunately though, while everyone is eligible to receive some discount on purchasing points, not everyone will see the 50% discount offer in their account. The discounts range anywhere between 25-50% off.

If you are targeted for the 50% discount and go all in, it will cost you $525 to purchase 30,000 points. This is the maximum number of points you are able to purchase per account during the calendar year. I definitely WOULD NOT suggest buying points speculatively, however, if you have an upcoming stay at a Starwood hotel, I suggest doing the math to see if purchasing points is cheaper then paying for the hotel outright. To receive the discount, you must purchase a minimum for 5,000 points.

Also, keep in mind that SPG points now transfer to Marriott points at a 1:3 ratio. So this can also be an opportunity to ultimately purchase 90,000 Marriott points for $525. Again, if you have any upcoming Marriott stays, do the math to see if purchasing points is cheaper. You might be surprised to see that there are many situations at both SPG and Marriott properties where this can actually save you some money!

Some things to know with this promotion:

• The maximum number of points you can purchase in a calendar year is 30,000 points
• You can purchase points in increments of 500
• Points take up to 24 hours to deposit into your account
• Your Starwood account must be activated for at least 14 days
• Purchase points here

Pros/Cons of Redeeming Points:

• You will still get stay/night credits even when redeeming (pro)
• You will not get the points (con)
• If there is a bonus at the time, you will be ineligible when redeeming points (con)
• If you are using all points, you will not have to pay any taxes (pro)
• If using cash + point, you sometimes need to pay tax on the cash portion, but since this is on such a smaller amount you will not have to pay the full tax on the regular rate and at some resort and city locations this can be extremely high (pro)
• At some hotels, you do not have the pay the resort fee if using points to redeem for your stay (pro)

So unless there is some unbelievable promotion going on, or the cost of purchasing points is close to the cost of actually paying for the stay, definitely use points when it is cheaper.