EXTENDED: Enticing Discount Buying Starwood Points (35% Off, Airline Miles for 1.82 Cents)

  • Traveler
  • July 4, 2017
  • Comments Off on EXTENDED: Enticing Discount Buying Starwood Points (35% Off, Airline Miles for 1.82 Cents)

I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same).


Starwood is offering a 35% discount on buying Starpoints. The offer launched a month ago but was supposed to expire June 30. It has been extended through July 14 — Bastille Day.

They’re actually letting you buy points at a price which those points are worth which is great.

A 35% discount prices Starwood points at 2.275 cents apiece. And since Starpoints transfer to airline miles with a bonus — transfer points into 20,000 miles and receive 5000 bonus miles — you are effectively buying airline miles with your choice of programs (any of the many where Starpoints transfer 1:1) at a cost of 1.82 cents apiece.

Starwood only lets you buy 30,000 points per year for your account.

This isn’t the biggest discount we’ve ever seen, but it’s close. In the fall there was an offer which was targeted for 50% off Starpoints.

When the offer is ‘only’ a 30% discount I suggest that anyone with a Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express can pay bills using the Plastiq bill pay service. Plastiq charges your card, mails a check, and charges you a 2.5% fee. That means you can ‘buy Starpoints’ at $0.025 apiece year round, no special offer needed, and the only cap is how many bills you can pay.

But since this price is still about 10% less, it’s worth considering if you need to top off a frequent flyer miles account or top off your Starwood points for an award since I regularly get 3-4 cents on my hotel redemptions.

You can also of course transfer your Starpoints to Marriott at 1 to 3, and then use Marriott Rewards for travel packages.

Or book a Marriott property like Al Wadi which provides great value.


Al Wadi Desert Resort: Less than 14,000 Starpoints Per Night Transferred to Marriott

Here’s the full list of airline mileage transfer partners:

Frequent Flyer Program Exchange Ratio (Starpoints : Miles)
Aegean Airlines 1:1
Aeromexico Club Premier 1:1
Aeroplan/Air Canada 1:1
Air Berlin 1:1
Air China Companion 1:1
Air New Zealand & Air Points 65:1
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan 1:1
Alitalia MilleMiglia 1:1
All Nippon Mileage Club 1:1
American Airlines AAdvantage 1:1
Asia Miles 1:1
Asiana Airlines 1:1
British Airways Executive Club 1:1
China Eastern Airlines 1:1
China Southern SkyPearl Club 1:1
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles 1:1
Emirates Skywards 1:1
Etihad Airways 1:1
Flying Blue 1:1
Gol Smiles 2:1
Hainan Airlines 1:1
Hawaiian Airlines 1:1
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank 1:1
Jet Airways 1:1
Korean Air Skypass 1:1
LAN LANPASS 1:1.5
Miles and More 1:1
Qatar Airways 1:1
Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan 1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:1
Thai Airways RoyalOrchidPlus 1:1
United Mileage Plus 2:1
Velocity Frequent Flyer 1:1
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 1:1

Buy Starpoints