Question about those business SPG Amex's. Is that 25k bonus points up front? Or is that the same deal as the personal... 10k, +15k/$15k?
Here are the specific requirements for the 25K: 2. Pay no annual fee for the first year. The annual fee will be $65. 3. To be eligible to receive 10,000 bonus Starpoints(R), the referral must make their first purchase with the Starwood Preferred Guest(R) Business Credit Card within one year of Card approval. Bonus points will appear on their Starwood Preferred Guest(R) statement 8-12 weeks after your first purchase. Bonus Starpoints are for first-time Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Cardmembers only. Bonus Starpoints can only be received once per Cardmember, regardless of the number of Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card accounts the Cardmember may have or had. 4. To be eligible to receive 15,000 bonus Starpoints(R) you must make $15,000 in purchases on the Card between the date the Card is issued and the date ending 6 months thereafter. Please allow 8 to 12 weeks after you reach $15,000 or more in account spend during the period described above for the 15,000 bonus Starpoints to appear in your Starwood Preferred Guest Account. 5. You understand and agree that the referred individual(s) must apply through an e-mailed link (provided by American Express) and be approved for you to receive the bonus. Due to the confidential nature of the credit approval process, you will not be notified of whether we approve or decline any application(s) from individual(s) you refer. Your colleague(s) may not receive this e-mail if they have previously "opted out" of receiving e-mail marketing communications from American Express. If anyone does want to apply for the Business card, just let me know and I can process the referral.
The points just showed up, and I didn't have to contact anyone. They showed up as: +325 SPG ELITE 50% BONUS (02/22/2011) So all's good! 3 ppd at a Starwood property w/out using my SPG AMEX. Even more points next time, since I've learned my lesson!
If zero referral requests have yet to come in, I can make a nice suggestion. I can't speak for everyone on the list, but, if you allow me to refer you, once my referral bonus has posted to my SPG account, I will gladly paypal (or amazon payments if you prefer) over to you $10.00
So if I already have a personal card and get a business card, am I eligible for 10/15 more points? It seems that this is a YMMV - is it? Did I miss something above? Second, I get 2 stays/ 5 nights towards PLT requalification with my current card. Will the business card give me 2 more stays or 5 more nights? I typically have to top off my account with my own $$ on paid stays to make PLT and $65 is cheaper than paying for 2 stays. Lastly, if I already have one card, will applying for the business card require a hard hit on my credit? Thanks Cheers
Is it possible to have ONE Starwood Preferred Guest Account & have it registered to a personal SPG AMEX, a Business SPG AMEX with corporation X & a Business SPG AMEX with corporation Y? So basically personal spending & the spending from two different (actual) Corporations all going towards the same Starwood account #...? Thanks!
Anyone else looking at an alternate credit card if the AA million miler requirements change to not include miles earned from SPG transfers?
--I would think so -- I have a SPG biz and personal card , orig opened as individual accounts , called SPG and they combined them into one account --call SPG and ask
So I've had a Starwoods personal AMEX card since July of 2008, I use it to pay household bills and pay it off at the end of every month. The opening credit line was $5000, more than enough to allow me to pay all the bills and book rooms at SPG properties when I traveled there. Well, shortly after I got the card, I had a late payment show up on a separate card (the auto payment had expired and I didn't catch it). Also around that time was when the economy went crazy and the banks started tightening credit lines. AMEX sent me a notice to inform me they were dropping the credit line to $500. I have called twice in the last 2 years or so requesting they raise the credit limit to no avail. I have a good credit score, in the mid 700's and almost no revolving debt. The card is essentially worthless to me. Should I cut my losses and cancel the card? Try again in a few years?
That's just crazy! You might try calling back (again) & see if they'll look at your current situaion to get your cl increased/restored. You might let them know that you've been putting all the purchases (that formerly went on this card) to whatever card you are utilizing now. Also, do you have any other types of credit utilization -- like a car loan or mortgage? That would work to your benefit, as banks like to see different types of credit being used responsibly! GL!
Yes, you should try asking them to increase the limit again and cancel the card if they refuse. Amex cards can be churned 2 years from the date of closing the account. If you had cancelled the card in 2008, you could have got another card (and bonus!) by now!
Not everyone here churns a great card, such as the SPG AMEX. Even for an annual fee, which was just recently increased, many here, including me, keep the card in the wallet and not leave it in the drawer. Starpoints are very valuable. To many, they want to continue earning them with the day-to-day SPG AMEX spending. The points can be used to get hotel stays, transfer to many FFPs, get Gold status for over $30k annual spend, etc. I want to keep the card in my wallet rather than doing the 2-year game. AFAIK, the 2-year cut-off was not known to us until recently. So I would not say "if you had cancelled the card in 2008" so and so. There are also mixed reports out there about successfully getting the bonus again after closing the cards for 2 years. When did you last call? From my own experience and others' reports, AMEX only considers raising the credit limit every 6 months, and the limit can normally be raised up to 3 times of the current limit. If you have a $500 limit, try $1,500. It just takes a while to build it back up.
You're correct that many will not churn an SPG Amex, but an Amex with a $500 credit limit isn't going to earn very many points! Much better, in my opinion, to cancel that card and move-on. Perhaps the threat of cancellation might increase the credit line. I agree with you, though, that an SPG Amex with a high credit limit can be a very valuable mile earning opportunity!
That's why I asked OP when the last attempt for a credit line increase was made. Also, OP should continue to use the card every month despite the small credit line and make on-time payment to build up good history with AMEX. I started my SPG AMEX two years ago with $2k line (same as many new cardholders). I then asked for credit line increases every 6 months and got approved every single time. Until recently, AMEX upped my credit line twice without me even asking. My credit score back then was in mid-700s. Right now it's in the upper-700s since I don't churn as much anymore.
very good advice -- as one would assume that the OP is interested in building their relationship w/AmEX! Clearly AmEx instituted the low credit line due to something in the OP's credit history that caused them concern -- it could be just a very 'short' history!
Definitely keep the card and build history....Amex is unique in that you can build history with them across different cards without upgrading (or even downgrading) cards later adversely affecting your credit history....
Not to take this topic too far off tangent, but I wanted to mention that with, a little bit of luck, it is possible to amplify your original Starpoints bonus. When I signed up for the card in the spring of last year (by clicking on an offer link on the Frugal Travel Guy's website), I received a 10,000 Starpoint bonus. That being said, I never received the additional 15,000 Starpoint bonus for spending $15,000 in the subsequent six months. Today, after reading about a current 30,000 signup bonus promotion being offered on the same card, I called AmEx customer service to ask for some consideration. I pointed out that I had been a loyal customer and had done a lot of business on the card and that I felt disrespected as a customer by not receiving the same level of bonus points as a new customer signing up today would. The initial CSR turned me down flatly and indicated that there was nothing that she could do other than transfer me to a supervisor. The supervisor listened to me patiently and, when I indicated that I was thinking that I should just cancel the card, she agreed to make me whole with a one-time 20,000 Starpoint courtesy credit. I will definitely take it since I am in a (somewhat futile) race against the clock right now to get to AA Lifetime Platinum.
Just to update, I received the 20,000 Starpoints today and immediately transferred them to my American AAdvantage account.
To give a bump to this thread since there are now two competing versions (and this one is the original), anyone who wants to can ask me for a referral. The offer described by the OP here is out of date. It's now 10K points after first use and 15K additional after spending $5K in 6 months. $65 fee waived first year. I get a 5K point referral fee.
