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Don’t Leave Points On the Table! Earn More Than 35,000 Bonus Starwood Points With This Trick

  • Million Mile Secrets

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers. 

    The 35,000 point sign-up bonuses that come with the AMEX Starwood cards have never been higher, so now is an excellent time to apply!  But did you know you might be able to get even MORE Starwood points?

    AMEX Starwood cardholders will get 5,000 Starwood points when they refer a friend to an AMEX Starwood personal or small business card, and the friend is approved.  So you can apply for the card, and then refer your friends to this great deal.  When your friends get it too you’ll earn extra points!

    Help Your Friends Get Big Travel – And Earn 5,000 Starwood Points in the Process!

    Emily and I obviously won’t get a commission if you refer your friend to the AMEX Starwood cards.  But that’s okay, because our readers getting Big Travel is the most important thing to us!

    I’ll show you how the Starwood American Express refer-a-friend program works!

    Starwood American Express Refer-a-Friend

    Link:   Starwood American Express Refer-a-Friend

    Link:   Limited Time: Best-Ever 35,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus With AMEX Starwood Cards Returns!

    Link:   Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

    Link:   Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express

    Through April 5, 2017, you’ll earn a total of 35,000 Starwood points when you apply for the AMEX Starwood personal or small business card and meet tiered minimum spending requirements.  And you can get a LOT of value from Starwood points!

    Plus, once you have the card, you’ll get 5,000 Starwood points for each friend who gets the card through your referral.  Every calendar year you can refer 11 friends to each card (a possible 55,000 Starwood points per card!).  And because of the increased sign-up bonus, it should be easy to convince your friends to apply!

    So if you have a partner who collects miles & points, it can be a good idea for 1 of you to sign-up for the card first, and then refer the other a little later!  That way you’ll end up with an extra 5,000 bonus points.  Just go to the AMEX Starwood refer-a-friend page, enter your account information, and type the email addresses of the friends you want to refer.

    Note:   Some folks do NOT have the option to refer-a-friend with the increased 35,000 point offer.  Instead, their referral link is for the previous offer of 25,000 Starwood points after spending $3,000 in 3 months.

    Make sure your link is for the best available offer, so your friends can get the Biggest Travel!  Don’t refer them to an inferior offer just to get the extra Starwood points.

    Be a Good Sport! If Your Link Is LESS Than the Best Public Offer, Don’t Refer Your Friends

    Just remember, American Express only allows folks to get the sign-up bonus ONCE per person, per lifetime on ALL their cards, with this possible exception.  So if you’ve already received the sign-up bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, you will NOT get the sign-up bonus again.  But you can still get the sign-up bonus for the business version of the card (or vice versa).

    Make sure you don’t recommend the card to someone who has already had the card (unless they know they aren’t eligible to earn the bonus and still want to apply).  And only refer friends who have (or are starting) a small business.  Otherwise they won’t qualify!

    However, folks may have a small business without realizing it.  All you need is a for-profit venture to qualify you as a small business.  This could be things like selling items on eBay, tutoring, or babysitting.  Just apply as a sole proprietorship and use your social security number.

    If you’d like inspiration for how to use Starwood points, check out:

    Plus, you can stay at Marriott hotels by transferring your Starwood points to Marriott at a 1:3 ratio!

    Bottom Line

    Through April 5, 2017, both the AMEX Starwood personal and small business cards come with a total of 35,000 bonus Starwood points after meeting tiered spending requirements.  And once you have the card, you can refer your friends and family for even MORE bonus points!

    You’ll get 5,000 points for each friend who gets the card through your referral (up to 11 friends, or 55,000 points per calendar year, per card).

    Emily and I don’t get a commission when you refer your friends with your personal link, but we’ll always tell you the best ways to get Big Travel with Small Money!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)