750 Free United Miles & Reader Question

750 Free United Miles Via MyPoints

Frugal Travel Guy points out that you can get 750 United miles for signing up for MyPoints. It only takes a couple minutes and you can always opt out after your miles post.

Link To Offer

Reader Question:

Adam writes in:

“I wanted to get your thoughts on these 2 cards.  I’ve pretty much narrowed it down to these two but I’m not sure what to go with because I’m not sure whether the ultimate rewards or the spg points are “worth” more. What do you think?”

First of all this is a great question because I think most card churners have run into similar dilemmas when it comes time to sign up for new credit cards and there are a ton of great offers.

The current offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred is 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $3,000 in spending over 3 months.

The current offer for the Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX is 10,000 SPG points for signing up and an additional 15,000 points if you spend $5,000 in 6 months.

If you could meet both spending requirements, the short answer would be just to sign up for both.

Both of these cards are excellent choices and you can’t go wrong with either, so ultimately the decision comes down to what type of miles are you looking to acquire and what your current spending habits are?

Sapphire Preferred Pros:

• Points can be transferred to United, Continental, British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, etc.
• Only $3,000 minimum spend requirement to earn 50,000 points
• 2X points on Travel and Dining
• No international transaction fee
• 7% annual dividend

Sapphire Preferred Cons:

• No transfer bonuses
• “Limited” transfer options in comparison to SPG AMEX

Ultimately, if your main airport hub or main mileage earning program is United, then I would go with the Sapphire Preferred. Additionally, the bonus for this card is double of what the SPG AMEX is currently offering. For 9/10 people, this would probably be the better card to sign up for.

Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX Pros:

• 30 airline transfer partners including AA & Delta
• 25% transfer bonus for every 20,000 miles you transfer
• Points can be used for SPG stays. (I personally am a huge fan of Cash & Points)
• Up to 4-5 points per $1 spent at SPG properties

 Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX Cons:

• United transfer ratio is 2:1. For every 2 SPG points you transfer, you only get 1 United mile
• Lower sign up bonus compared to Sapphire Preferred

While I do love the SPG AMEX, with the much higher Sapphire Preferred sign up bonus, I’d would only recommend the SPG AMEX if you stay a substantial amount at SPG properties or are looking to earn miles for transfer into some of the “unique” airline transfer partners that you typically wouldn’t be able to sign up for a credit card with like ANA or Emirates. If you are looking to redeem your miles on those types of airlines, than this would be the card for you.

While I can’t remember what the “normal” offer for the SPG AMEX is because I haven’t had it for a couple years now, I do know they occasionally run promotions with lower spend requirements and higher sign up bonuses. In my opinion, if you are looking to get this card, then I would wait until the next time they have one of these special promotions and sign up for the card then!

If you had to choose between the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the SPG AMEX, which one would you go with?

-Parag