Starwood Mystery Point Bonus- up to 50% off Starpoints

Starpoints are one of the most valuable points currencies out there because of the great redemption opportunities that exist. What’s more, they’re very hard for us Singapore-based travellers to earn. The only credit card route we have to earn Starpoints in Singapore is through American Express, at a really crappy ratio.

So whenever Starwood announces a sale on points, I get interested. This time round they’re offering a mystery bonus of up to 50% on points purchased before 31 Dec 2016.

Note that the wording is up to 50%. From what I understand, there are 4 offers available. Starpoints regularly retail at 3.5 cents per point, so depending on what offer you get you will be paying-

  • 25% off — 2.625 cents per Starpoint
  • 30% off — 2.45 cents per Starpoint
  • 35% off — 2.275 cents per Starpoint
  • 50% off — 1.75 cents per Starpoint

Guess what offer I got?

Pfffft. 78 nights this year and on track to hit 100, and I get 25%. Why do the ones we love hurt us the most?

If you got the 50% deal, I would advise you to absolutely buy the maximum number of points you can. 1.75 cents per Starpoint is a ridiculously good deal, given that you can typically get upwards of 2 cents per Starpoint value on hotel redemptions

Remember that you don’t just need to use Starpoints for hotels though, they can also be transferred to most airline FFPs (including Krisflyer) at a 1:1 ratio. What’s more, for every 20,000 Starpoints you transfer, you get a 5,000 miles, so that’s a 1:1.25 ratio.

The full list of airline partners is here.

Aegean Airlines1:1
Aeromexico Club Premier1:1
Aeroplan/Air Canada1:1
Air Berlin1:1
Air China Companion1:1
Air New Zealand Airpoints65:1
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan1:1
Alitalia MileMiglia1:1
All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club1:1
American Airlines AAdvantage1:1
Asia Miles1:1
Asiana Airlines1:1
British Airways Executive Club1:1
China Eastern Airlines1:1
China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club1:1
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles1:1
Emirates Skywards1:1
Etihad Airways1:1
Flying Blue1:1
Gol Smiles2:1
Hainan Airlines1:1
Hawaiian Airlines1:1
Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank1:1
Jet Airways1:1
Korean Air1:1
LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass1:1.5
LifeMiles® of Avianca1:1
Miles and More1:1
Qatar Airways1:1
Saudi Arabian Airlines1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer1:1
Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus1:1
United Mileage Plus2:1
Virgin America Elevate1:1
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club1:1
Virgin Australia1:1

If you were to max out a 50% discount, you could essentially buy airline miles on any 1:1 partner for 1.4 US cents, which is very, very cheap.

For Singapore based flyers, this might present an opportunity to redeem some exotic cabin products that would normally be very difficult. For example, you could conceivably transfer to American Airlines or Etihad to book the Etihad First Class Apartment on the A380

Image result for etihad a380 apartment

Alternatively, you could convert Starpoints into Japan Airlines miles and use those to redeem Emirates First Class awards. This seems to be the only reasonable way to get them, now that Alaska has devalued their redemption rates.

Image result for emirates a380 first class

Image result for emirates a380 first class

What happens if you get the 30% or 35% offers? I’m a bit more indifferent about these. At 35% I might bite, if I had a confirmed redemption in mind and wasn’t just buying speculatively. Probably not at 30%, because there have been publicly available 30% sales before that anyone could take advantage of.

Anyway it’s a moot point for me because I’m definitely not biting at a 25% sale. The good news for those of you on the fence is that you have until the end of the year to decide, so there’s no need to rush to buy now.

A couple of people have asked me if there’s any chance Starwood will launch a cobranded card in Singapore. My answer to that is a flat no. The market here is just too small to make such an effort worthwhile. The best we can hope for is one of our banks adds Starwood as a transfer partner with a reasonable points exchange rate.

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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C

Hello. Thanks for your post. I got the 50% promo. Which top 5 credit card(s) are recommended for the purchase please? Can we double dip with any cash back site? Thanks

kt85

how about the citibank rewards card? think i previously read on your website that it accrues 4x miles?

keithmaxx

How does this qualify for 4x on Citi Rewards? I would assume that SPG is not classified as clothes, bags or shoes merchant…

keithmaxx

Ah yes, I meant 10x (=4 miles). I was thinking where to charge my Alaska and SPG points purchases because both are processed by points.com… I just wanted to make sure before I make that leap of faith.

Thanks!

C

For info. Can use DBS lifestyle app to get 10% rebates for max $50 or win pair of ticket to Milan on Qatar air (last day of promo today for online fair)

Peter

I have never used my SPG account before and I logged in for the heck of it to see that I got 30%. Wonder what profiles get 50%.

Max

same here.. beside staying 1-2 night this year… i got a 30% off as well…

James

I think it’s quite random.. I’ve never used my SPG account either and got 50%. Just a quick question: what is the validity period for SPG points? Trying to figure out how many points I should get with my current travel patterns.

Sam

I got 35%. Still deciding whether to buy….need a second opinion.

Zack

I got 35%, is it worth taking a bite?

yk

Pardon me for asking, i have 50% off, 30,000 SPG at 525USD.
Which is better; to redeem for SPG Stays or SIA KF? Need some guidence.

Zack

Ok for 35% I’ve worked out it’s SGD975 for 30k points. Checked against dollar value of local rooms. Not worth the points purchased.

Stephen

I got 50% as well. Never been a big fan of “buying” points. 30k miles cost 525 usd or 20k is 350 usd
Still quite a bit of money just to buy “electronic currency” like bitcoin heh

C

Not sure. Guess it’s random ? I’m Gold and made about 8 stays so far this year. Definitely not a lucrative fish for them.

A

Hi Aaron

If I buy the maximum 30000 points can I get a relative to buy another 30000 and transfer to me, resulting in a balance of 60000 points? Is that allowed or would that be considered above the 30000 allowable purchase of points per year?

J

Just realised that the discount rate is different daily. After refreshing their “buy points” page daily, I got 50% last night after days of 25%, 30% and 35%.

Share for info.

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