Get value out of SPG points with the 20% airline transfer bonus

If you haven’t banked enough AAdvantage points thanks to the churnable Citi Executive AAdvantage card or that 40,000 point bonus from the US Airways Mastercardisn’t enough to cover your luxury travel aspirations, you’ll like this promotion: Through July 31, 2014 Starwood Preferred Guest point transfers to American Airlines AAdvantage or US Airways Dividend Miles will get you an extra 20% bonus.

This is on top of the 5,000 mile bonus that is paid out for every 20,000 points transferred. So for every 20,000 points transferred, you’re pocketing 30,000 miles – a 50% bonus! Below is a breakdown of what this means in terms of discounted award redemptions:

• Two round-trip domestic economy class tickets
  • (50,000 miles total) = Transfer 37,000 Starpoints (37,000 + 5,000 bonus = 42,000 miles + 20% bonus = 50,400 AAdvantage miles)
• 100,000 mile business class ticket to Europe
  • Transfer 69,000 Starpoints (69,000 + 15,000 bonus = 84,000 + 20% bonus = 100,800 miles)
• 140,000 mile first class ticket to Australia using Dividend miles
  • Transfer 97,000 Starpoints (97,000 + 20,000 bonus = 117,000 + 20% bonus = 140,400 miles)

You’ll want to transfer in 20,000 increments to get the most points out of the transfer. For example, transferring 37,000 Starpoints gets you 50,400 AAdvantage miles, but transferring 40,000 gets you 60,000.

Have you been focusing your manufactured spending activities from your airline rewards card towards your SPG card? Then you’d essentially be upgrading an economy ticket (60,000 points to Europe) for business class.

Keep in mind that there is a minimum 2500 point transfer requirement if you’re a regular member. The minimum for Gold members is 1500 points. Platinum members have no such minimum transfer requirements.

As usual, it’s not a good idea to initiate a point transfer unless you’re planning on redeeming your miles soon. As the recent AAdvantage devaluation shows, loyalty programs can devalue at any moment, without warning or even the opportunity to put your miles to use. If you do decide to transfer your points, the deadline under this promotion is July 31, 2014 at 11:59 PM (CT). The maximum amount of points you can transfer per 24 hours is 79,999 and the 20% bonus will post within 7 days.

Disclosure: I will earn a commission when you use my link for the US Airways card.

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