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Through October 15 31 (offer extended), American Airlines and SPG are offering bonus miles when you transfer SPG points to AA. Here are the key details from AA:
From September 1 through October 15, 2017, convert your Starpoints® to AAdvantage® miles and earn up to 30% additional AAdvantage® miles from the conversions. How this works:
- Earn 20% bonus with each conversion
- Earn an additional 10,000 AAdvantage® miles for every 100,000 AAdvantage® miles received from conversions.
As always, for every 20,000 Starpoints® transferred within the same transaction, SPG® will automatically add another 5,000 Starpoints®. The 20% bonus will apply after this addition.
Basically, for every 20,000 points transferred, you get 30,000 AA miles (the usual 25K + 5K extra). And, for every 100K AA miles you get this way, they’ll kick in another 10K.
Example 1:
- Convert 20K SPG to 30K AA 3 times, for a total of 60K SPG converted to 90K AA
- Convert 9K SPG to 10,800 AA miles (thanks to the 20% bonus)
- You now have received 100,800 AA miles, so you’ll get 10K more
- Total: 69K SPG –> 110,800 AA (1 to 1.6)
Example 2:
- Convert 20K SPG to 30K AA 10 times, for a total of 200K SPG converted to 300K AA
- You have topped 100K AA miles 3 times, so you’ll get 30K more
- Total: 200K SPG –> 330K AA (1 to 1.65)
Is this deal worth it?
I would never recommend transferring SPG points to airline miles unless you have a specific award in mind that you need more miles for. SPG points are incredibly valuable, in part, because of their flexibility in transferring to so many different airline partners. Once you lock your points away in a single program, your options are greatly reduced.
For more about SPG transfer partners, see: SPG Transfer Partners.
With enough SPG points, you can get a similar deal every day and with many airlines
Another great option for SPG points, which is not dependent upon a special transfer bonus, is to convert them 1 to 3 to Marriott and then purchase a Marriott Travel Package. With 90,000 SPG points, you can get 120,000 miles of your choice from Alaska, AA, Air Canada, Delta, and more. Even better, you can opt for 132,000 United miles. Either way, you also get a certificate for 7 nights at a category 1 to 5 Marriott property. If you later return that certificate unused, you’ll get 45,000 Marriott points back. That’s equivalent to 15,000 SPG points. So, in total, you can convert 75,000 SPG points (90K – 15K) into 120K miles (or 132K United miles) anytime you want. That’s a conversion ratio of 1 to 1.6 (or 1 to 1.76 with United).
See also: Marriott SPG Complete Guide to Sweet Opportunities.
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Useless miles. I redeemed mine for two first class from Canada to Hawaii at about .7 cents per mile. Just wanted to get rid of them useless miles.
Is getting a refund of 45,000 points a current policy or is it just hit and miss?
Thanks
For a category 1-5 package, that’s the standard refund amount. Some have had trouble returning their packages right away, so it’s better to wait a while and tell Marriott that you tried but couldn’t find availability.
If only I could do the reverse…change my AA points into Starpoints for a 30% discount. I would do it in a heartbeat!
Does the 20% bonus count towards the “10k bonus for every 100k”? In your examples you assumed yes. Not sure if the promotion T&C mentioned this.
I assume that the 10K bonus does not result in another 20%. Unless I goofed with my math, my examples assumed no.
Also not a good choice in general because AA redemption (saver awards) are so hard to find now compared to the past…