Best Hidden FF Miles Card
Written: Dec 06 '00 (Updated Apr 15 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: No Annual Fee, Earn 1 Point/Mile per $, Good Online Account Access
Cons: High APR, Grace Period, Cash Advance Fee, Not Widely Accepted
The Bottom Line: It's the best travel reward card value.
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| valueconsumer's Full Review: Sheraton Starpoints (American Express) |
American Express Sheraton Starpoints Card is simply the best travel award card value. I have been carrying this card since '97. First, it has no annual fee. Second, you earn 1 Starpoint per $ charged. Third, its online account statements and management are very good; you can set up direct payment from your bank account. Further you can download the statements directly to Quicken or MS Money. The service is good even though the service has been going down. Lastly, you receive 1,000 points sign up bonus and complimentary Gold level membership for the first year. Other reward cards will give your better sign up bonuses but they usually come with hefty annual fees.
Starwood Starpoints are one of the most flexible reward points. The hotel stay award starts at 2,000 points. If you want airline ticket, you can transfer to any of its 28 airlines partners 1:1 ratio. When you transfer 20,000 points you receive 5,000 bonus miles thus the ratio improves to 1:1.25. If you have miles on two or more airlines, you can use Starpoints to your advantage. The points can be redeemed for merchandises, AT&T phone card and etc.
You get the best value out of Starpoints when you use them for hotel stays. Unlike other frequent guest/miles programs, it doesn't have capacity control meaning if a room is available, you can have them. I redeemed 30,000 points for free 3 nights stay Orchid at Mauna Lani Resort in Big Island of Hawaii where the rates are over $300/night.
Drawbacks are as with most of reward cards (if not all) high APR, cash advance fee and even higher APR on cash advances and American Express. Because of high APR carrying balance is not recommended. Even though it's improving, American Express is not widely accepted as MasterCard and Visa.
Annual Fee: None
Intro APR: 8.9% for 6 months (on purchase only)
APR: purchase - prime + 9.99%; cash advance - prime + 12.99%
Grace Period: 20 days
Sign Up Bonus: 1,000 Starwood points and Gold Preferred Guest status (for 1st yr)
Other Benefits: rental car loss and damage insurance, online shopping guarantee, online account access
For more detail:
http://www25.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?6/20/b/3/0/095113148325/20/n
For some reason, AmEx does not promote this card heavily compare to other AmEx cards but for those discerning consumers, Sheraton Starpoints Card is an excellent value.
Update: AmEx's customers service IS NOT what it used be but I haven't had any bad experience yet.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
valueconsumer
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Member: DH
Location: Fairfax, VA
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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