Last Chance! Buy or Gift 5,000 or more Starpoints By July 1, 2016, to Save up to 30% in Preparation for Your Next Great Vacation!
Expiration Date – June 30, 2016
We greatly appreciate when you click on any of our links or ads and book directly on Starwood's website where you’ll enjoy the best rates!
Starwood is offering Starpoints for 30% off through July 1, 2016. Simply buy 5,000 or more Starpoints to save 30%. And don’t worry, we’ll also show you how to determine whether or not buying Starpoints is a good deal to begin with.
Each calendar year SPG members can buy, gift or receive a maximum of 30,000 Starpoints not inclusive of any bonuses. And to buy or receive Starpoints as a gift, new accounts have to be open at least 14 days.
Without a sale, Starpoints cost 3.50 cents per point. With this sale, your price will range from 3.50 cents per point for purchases of less than 5,000 Starpoints to 2.45 cents per point for purchases of at least 5,000 Starpoints.
As you know from prior trvlvip Perks and Tips, we believe the value of a Starpoint is 2.20 cents per point, which is the value we would be willing to pay for Starpoints if we could buy them for cash. It is also the minimum value we feel you should expect before redeeming your points.
Therefore, buying Starpoints for 2.45 cents per point is more than we believe Starpoints are worth (2.20 cents per point) but it’s pretty close.
So does a purchase make sense?
Maybe – we don’t suggest buying points speculatively, but rather advise you to purchase only with a specific award stay in mind.
Here is a quick calculation to help you decide:
Find an award stay
Determine the full price of that stay if you were to pay cash including all taxes and fees
Divide that amount by the number of Starpoints required for the award stay (for Cash & Points award stays, subtract the cash outlay for the stay from the total in #2 before dividing by the points required)
If the value per Starpoint exceeds the price you are required to pay, you’ve found a good deal and, if not, we suggest you don’t buy the points
Another Consideration - Transfer Starpoints to Air Miles:
You can transfer 20,000 Starpoints for 25,000 airline rewards miles on most airlines. With this 30% discount and the extra 5,000 mile incentive on the transfer of 20,000 miles, the cost is reduced to 1.96 cents per mile for a 20,000 point purchase and transfer.
We value most airline rewards miles at 1.50 - 2.00 cents per mile so this can be a good way to score some extra airline award miles for much less than you can buy them for from the airlines with or without a bonus.
So if you have a special airline award in mind where the value per mile exceeds 1.96 cents per mile, it could be a good economic purchase decision.
The Wrap-Up:
It rarely makes sense to buy Starpoints at 2.45 cents per point until you’ve chosen a location, picked your dates and have taken the steps to ensure award availability. Make the small effort to crunch the numbers to ensure the point purchase makes good economic sense (you are able to enjoy more value from the points than you paid) - you will be very happy you did!
To learn more about buying Starpoints with our without a bonus or discount, see our great Tip on the topic!
If trvlvip helped you gain a better understanding about buying Starpoints on sale, we’d love a nice note on Facebook and Twitter!
And if you'd like to be alerted whenever trvlvip posts a great Starwood Perk or Tip, register for FREE travel updates!
We greatly appreciate when you click on any of our links or ads and book or buy directly on the travel partner's website where you will enjoy the best rates! We have the potential to receive compensation, which allows us to provide our helpful travel updates and advice to you FREE of charge! For more information see our Advertising Policy. Many thanks!