So I’ve heard on Flyertalk about American Express changing the benefits for their Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card, but at this point it was all rumors. I had never heard anything more. The rumors kept saying that they would have an offer for 30,000 Starpoints instead of 25,000 Starpoints. The offer that we have on the blog is 25,000, and not for 30,000.
I decided to call American Express to see if the offer did exist out there, and see if they would bump my bonus to 30,000. The Customer Service guy was very friendly and one of the things that he mentioned was that I have had an American Express card since 2006, it is the Blue Sky from American Express℠ and doesn’t have an annual fee. That is my staple card. I’m pretty sure they are more lenient for someone who has been a great customer than for someone who is new, but you never know unless you ask.
He asked me where I had seen the offer and I told him that it was all rumors that I had read online. I didn’t specify any one website in particular. He mentioned that he saw that the offer was available, but he would have to have confirmation from his supervisor to bonus me an additional 5000 Starpoints. That would make my sign on bonus a total of 30,000. The suspense killed me as he left me on hold and visited with his supervisor. When he picked back up the phone he told me that it was approved and that they would show up in my account within the next two weeks. Great Success!!
I was also hoping that he could lower my spending requirement as I’ve got to spend $15,000 in the next six months. I’ve already spent two, and having a baby will bring me up to another five thousand or so, and hopefully I can get someone who has a business to help me out with another couple thousand and then I should be good to go, but lowering the spending requirement would be even better. He mentioned that there wasn’t anything that could be done for me about my spending requirement. I guess I’ve got a few months to figure the rest of the spending out.
Either way I see it as a great success. I look at 5000 Starpoints as a value of over $100. When I go to Europe next spring I’ll be glad that I had those extra points because they will equate to another hotel in Europe, which is worth well over $100. The lesson learned is that it never hurts to ask.
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What was the phone number you used to contact AMEX?
Kalboz, I called the number on the back of the card, which is 1-800-297-1000. I also should confess that I called one time before I actually applied for the card and asked for the specific offer and they told me that they didn’t have it. Once I had applied for the card and been accepted I called and they acted like it was no problem. I’m sorry that I don’t remember the name of the CSR who helped me.
Make sure you point out how long you’ve been with Amex when they are considering you for the offer. I also didn’t mention any specific place that I’d seen the offer, just that I had seen it online. He conferred with his supervisor and I got approved instantly. Great Success!
Thank you for the prompt & helpful response.
No problem. Best of luck if you have the card. If you don’t have it already it might be good to wait a week or so as there are rumors that it is coming out as an offer. If the offer comes out, we will post it here.
I got the card last year for 25K SPG points and it was great to use during our travels to SEA especially being SPG Plat. I also refered a family member for an easy 5K points … and now it’s the time to score another quick 5K points. When the new offer comes out, is it possible to get another SPG AMEX card?
Kalboz, I’m not sure about the turnaround time on getting the card again. I know a lot of times they won’t give you the bonus again for a certain time period, but I’m not sure what that is. I’ll look into it more.
Thank you Sheldon! 🙂
The Frugal Travel Guy just sent an alert today about a new SPG AMEX offer for 30K SPG points as follows:
No first year fee ( normally $65)
10,000 points on first purchase
20,000 additional points if you spend $4500 in the first three months. (the normal offer is for less points and $15K of additional spend) That is a total of 30,000 SPG points with no first year fee
There is one catch however:
It is only available at present from a referral from those that got the email and each referrer is limited to 6 referrals.
The offer runs until August 22nd to sign up for the card and the referral program runs until August 10th.
Kalboz,
That sounds like a great deal. I wish that I would have waited a month. I’m sweating the $15,000 in spending on my SPG Amex.
We will have the link at the same time that he will, and I don’t have the referral link right now. It looks like they are opening it to referrals first, then they will open it up to our site.
I’m still looking into how long you have to space the cards just to make sure that you can hit the bonus again.
Sorry to hear about your predicament … maybe a call to the above number would suffice to give you the same terms.
Got the email myself already and sent an invitation to my brother. Will call the above number to moan about this great offer that I did not have a chance to get …. and maybe I get bonused 5K SPG points.