Limited Time: Starwood 20% Transfer Bonus to American Airlines

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Through August 7, 2015, you can earn 20% bonus miles when you transfer Starwood points to American Airlines miles.

I’ll help you decide if you should take advantage of this promotion!

What’s the Deal?

Link:   20% Bonus Miles Promotion

Starting today, you’ll earn 20% more miles when you transfer Starwood points to American Airlines miles.  You must make the transfer by August 7, 2015.

You usually earn 5,000 bonus miles when you transfer 20,000 Starwood points to airline loyalty programs.

But with this promotion, you’ll get 20% more miles.

So, in total, you’ll receive 30,000 American Airlines miles when you transfer 20,000 Starwood points (20,000 Starwood points transfers to 20,000 American Airlines miles + 5,000 Starwood bonus + 5,000 promotion bonus).

I’ve shown you how to use American Airlines miles to fly to Europe.  And how you can use fewer American Airlines miles during off-peak dates on 1 of their airline partners.

So this could be a good deal for folks who have a specific use in mind for their American Airlines miles!

Should You Transfer Now and Book Award Flights Later?

American Airlines miles are useful because you can book award flights on many airline partners or members of the oneworld alliance.

For example, you can book business class or First Class seats on Etihad.

Emily and I redeemed 90,000 American Airlines miles to fly First Class on Etihad from Washington DC, to Abu Dhabi.  The tickets would’ve cost ~$8,000 each!

Folks that value award flights more than hotel stays might want to take advantage of this promotion for a trip they may take later.

However, if you want to use your Starwood points for hotel stays, you can get a lot of value that way, too.  It depends on your travel plans and where you think you’ll get the most value.

Are There Drawbacks?

Starwood points are valuable because they are harder to earn than other types of points.

For example, you could redeem 20,000 Starwood points for a night at the Westin Paris Vendome in September.  It would cost over $500 if you pay in cash!

But if you have lots of Starwood points, transferring them to American Airlines to get 20% more bonus miles can be worth it.

As always, make sure you are getting a good value for your points.

Earn Extra Starwood Points

Link:   Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (personal)

Link:   Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (business) 

The quickest way to earn Starwood points is to sign-up for 1 of the AMEX Starwood credit cards.

With the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card and the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express you get:

• 25,000 Starwood points when you complete the minimum spending
• 2X Starwood points per $1 spent at Starwood hotels which include Aloft, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, Sheraton, St Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin and W brand hotels
• 2 stay credits or 5 night credits toward Starwood Elite Status
• Terms & limitations apply

I’ve written before about both the personal and business versions of the card.  Beginning August 11, 2015, neither card will have foreign transaction fees, but the annual fee is also increasing by $30.

It’s possible to get Big Travel from Starwood points, whether you use them for hotel stays or transfer them to book award flights.

Bottom Line

Now through August 7, 2015, August 31, 2015, you’ll get 20% more miles when you transfer Starwood points to American Airlines miles.  This is on top of the 5,000 bonus miles you earn every time you transfer 20,000 Starwood points.

This can be a good deal for folks who have an award flight in mind on American Airlines.  In particular, the off-peak award flights can be a terrific value.  You can also use American Airlines miles to book award flights on lots of airline partners.

The fastest way to get Starwood points is to sign-up for the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card.

As always, make sure you’ll get good value for your points before you make the transfer!

Will you take part in this promotion?