Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX Card

This benefits overview will help you get huge value from your Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express. We’ve cut through the fine print to help you understand your rights and protections so you can leverage them for maximum benefit.

Please understand that Starwood Preferred Guest and American Express may change the terms and conditions of your cardmember agreement. When making important decisions based on benefits, you should review the terms and conditions published by Starwood Preferred Guest or call 1-800-528-4800..

Type of Benefit

The Starwood Preferred Guest card earns Starpoints which is one of the most versatile currency with airlines. They have partnered with over 30 airline frequent flyer programs such as, American Airlines, British Airways, United, Emirates, LAN and Virgin Atlantic.

They also have global network of over 1,100 hotel properties which include, W Hotels, Westin, Sheraton and Four Points hotels.

Starwood transfers of 20,000 points automatically get an additional bonus of 5,000 miles. You should always aim to transfer your points in increments of 20,000. Be wary of the daily transfer limit of 79,999. It is much better to transfer 60,000 and wait until the following day so you receive your bonus of 5,000 miles. 19,999 points transfers to 19,999 airline miles while 20,000 will become 25,000 airline miles.

Your Starpoints will not expire as long as you keep an active account. Keeping an active account only requires you to have either earned, redeemed or transferred points within in the last 12 months. You can also stay at an SPG participating hotel to keep your account active.

You will not lose your SPG points by closing your American Express SPG card, however canceling the card does eliminate the easiest way to extend your expiration date. Instead of making a purchase with your card, you’ll need to otherwise earn redeem or transfer SPG points to keep your account active.

When you are not working on the spending requirement for a signup bonus on another credit card, the Starwood Preferred Guest card is an ideal place to put your regular spending.

Foreign Transactions

The right credit card can provide significant savings on purchases made in foreign currencies while traveling Abroad. When you exchange U.S. dollars for local currency, you normally pay a commission, a bad exchange rate, or both.

Credit cards use an interbank exchange rate that is much more favorable, but some cards add a mandatory foreign exchange fee of all transactions processed outside the United States. This fee even applies to transactions in USD. A typical foreign transaction fee is 2.5-3.0%. You should avoid using cards with this fee abroad.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card does not have any foreign transaction fees. You can use it to get a great exchange rate on purchases in other currencies with no additional costs.

Bonus Categories:

A bonus category is a type of purchase that earns more points than normal spending. Merchants are classified by credit card processors by the type of business they run. Walgreens is a Pharmacy, McDonald’s is a restaurant, Exxon Mobile is a gas station etc.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card earns the following bonuses:
Earn up to 5 Starpoints per dollar for purchases at participating SPG hotels.
All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar.

Threshold Bonuses

A threshold bonus is an additional benefit earned by reaching a certain spending requirement in a predetermined period of time—typically a cardmember or calendar year. Threshold bonuses can grant you free hotel nights, companion passes for flights, elite status, or extra redeemable or elite qualifying miles or points.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card does not offer threshold bonuses.

When you purchase travel from a business with a licence to transport passengers (also known as a common “Common Carrier”) you are entitled to benefits that protect you, your family, and your belongings. Award travel purchased with points is generally covered under these provisions as long as you pay the taxes and fees for the trip with your card.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card has relatively weak benefits associated with purchasing airfare and other travel. There are several common benefits described below that are not included with this card. You should consider using another card with more protection for travel purchases.

Lost Luggage

This benefit provides reimbursement for checked or carry-on baggage and your personal property contained within during a trip. Generally coverage extends to physical loss, damage, and theft.

The Starwood Preferred Guest does not offer lost luggage benefits. You may consider using another credit card when purchasing transportation with a common carrier.

Delayed Luggage

The baggage delay benefit provides coverage for you and your immediate family if a common carrier does not deliver your bags to your destination on time. This type of coverage typically goes into effect after a 4-6 hour delay and provides a per day cash allowance for necessary purchases.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card does not have any delayed luggage benefits. You may consider using another credit card when purchasing transportation with a common carrier

Car Rental Coverage

Auto Rental CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) can provide reimbursement for damage up to the cash value of most vehicles. When this coverage is “Primary,” you do not need to file a claim with any other source of insurance. When this coverage is “Secondary,” you’ll generally need to file with your auto insurance company (or prove you do not have alternate coverage).

Nearly all credit card auto insurance policies require that you decline the coverage offered to you by the rental agency.

In most policies, long term rentals (over one month) are not eligible for coverage. Avoid expensive, exotic, or antique automobiles vans and motorcycles without first verifying that you are covered.

The Starwood Preferred Guests card offers primary auto rental insurance. This means you do not need to file a claim with any other provider (and can avoid a potential increase in your premiums if you use the credit card insurance).

Coverage does not include rentals exceeding thirty-one consecutive days. Keep in mind that this insurance covers damage or theft of the vehicle, but not personal liability in the event of an accident causing injury to others.

Trip Cancellation

This coverage protects the cardholder and immediate family members from having to pay non-refundable expenses when a trip must be cancelled unexpectedly. Eligible reasons for cancellation are usually things outside of your control like:

Injury, loss of life, or sickness of you or a travel companion
Severe weather
Change in military orders
Terrorist action or hijacking
A physician advises you not to travel

Some cards will also reimburse you for the cash value of award tickets—meaning you can get money back even if you used points to pay for the majority of the travel.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card does not offer Trip Cancellation benefits.

Trip Interruption & Delay

Trip interruption insurance provides protection similar to the cancellation benefit after travel has started.

Examples of ‘qualifying’ reasons for trip interruption are:

Injury, loss of life, or sickness of you or a travel companion
Severe weather
Change in military orders
Terrorist action or hijacking
Finding your or your travel companions dwelling to be uninhabitable

This benefit is not applied if the cardholder or travel companion are:

traveling against the advice of a physician
traveling for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment or traveling in the third trimester of a pregnancy

The Starwood Preferred Guest card does not offer trip interruption benefits.

Purchase benefits cover many physical products you buy with your credit card. Most cards offer broad short term protections immediately following your purchase and help protect you from the cost of replacing poorly made or defective products in the medium term.

The most important thing you can do to be in a position to take advantage of these benefits is to save a copy of the purchase receipt for purchases over $25. Evernote makes it easy to save digital copies of receipts which can be easily found if you ever need to file claim.

Purchase Protection

Purchase protection is provided by most rewards credit cards. Unlike warranties, which generally cover manufacturer defects, purchase protection covers a broad range of bad things that can happen to your stuff, including many that are your fault.

Purchase protection coverage typically lasts between 90 and 120 days from the date of purchase.

Typically covers theft, fire, physical damage (like dropping your new camera) or water damage.
Be aware of per claim and per year maximum coverage limitations. The per purchase limit is usually between $500 and $10,000.
Business cards and those with higher annual fees tend to have higher per-purchase coverage

The Starwood Preferred Guest covers purchases for 90 days up to a maximum of $1000 for each claim and $50,000 for each account. Coverage is secondary, meaning you will need to file a claim with any other insurance providers or certify that there is no other coverage before receiving compensation.

Extended Warranty

Extended warranty protection will usually extend the manufacturer’s warranty by one additional year. Unlike purchase protection, this coverage is limited to the provisions of the original manufacturer’s warranty, so theft, accidents, and damage from misuse are not included.

Manufacturers’ warranties that are longer than three to five years are often excluded from the extended warranty benefit.

Many products are built with the warranty period in mind and it seems like something often goes wrong through no fault of your own right after that initial coverage expires.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card offers one additional year of warranty protection for products with an original manufacturer’s’ warranty of five years or less. There is a $10,000 maximum per claim and a $50,000 maximum per account.

Price Protection

Price protection offers reimbursement for the difference in price on products you buy in the event you find a lower price within a specified period of time.

The price guarantee typically covers retail and internet advertised pricing. There are often exclusions or additional restrictions for cash only or close-out liquidation sales.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Card does not offer price protection benefits.

Return Protection

Return protection offers reimbursement up to the cost of an item when the merchant will not accept a return within a specified period of time from the original purchase. Many policies require you to return the item to the benefit administrator.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card offers up to $300 per item and $1,000 per year for each credit card account. You must return the item within 90 days and in like-new condition.

Roadside Assistance Hotline
A 24-hour dispatch hotline that can send a tow operator or locksmith to assist in an emergency situation. While the hotline is available at no additional charge, the card member will be charged for any services provided.

Global Assist Hotline
Rely on the 24 hour global assist hotline for medical, legal, financial and other select emergency assistance services. While the hotline is available at no additional charge, the card member will be charged for any services provided.
Global Assist Hotline Guide

Boingo American Express Preferred Plan
Complimentary access to Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots across the world. Registration with Amex and Boingo is required to take advantage of this benefit.
Boingo American Express Registration

Free ShopRunner Membership
Online shopping at a variety of online retail store that includes free 2-day shipping and free returns.

Entertainment Benefits
Discounts and pre-sales to select sporting events, concerts and shows.