Amex plat VS SPG CC

[jong]

With Amex Plat, one receives an upgrade to SPG Gold. If i dont forsee me reaching SPG Plat anytime in the near future, is it worth cancelling my Starwood CC in lieu of the Amex Plat?

Does Starwood Amex offer anything Amex Plat doesnt?

[steve2]

 there are Pros & Cons to both

 1stly where do you want to use your pts? if for free Hotel nights then Amex SPG is the way (at least if its free *W Hotels you want)

 if you want CO miles then Amex Plat since SPG is 2 pts per 1 mile while Amex Plat is 1000 pts = 1000 miles (but you will have to pay 60 cents per 1000 miles you get to Amex)

 SPG gets you an extra 1 pt when you use that CC and stay at a *W Hotel, Amex Plat gets you 1 for 1 in MR pts

 SPG 20k in pts = 25k in miles on most of the partner carriers, while its 20k on Amex P = 20k in miles. Cant tranfer Amex MR to AA but you can transfer SPG to AA

 The Amex Plat I think gives you SPG Gold w/o doing anything, while with the SPG CC you will need to spend $20k a calendar yr

 Amex P gets you into some Airline Lounges SPG doesnt, Amex P has an expensive annual fee, SPG is $65

 So each person needs to decide how they want to use the pts they earn and then make a decission which is best for them. I dont think 1 is better then the other in General w/o knowing how a person wants to use the pts earned.

[jong]

Thanks for the thorough breakdown.. I have some pondering to do I see.

The tipping point for me might be Starwood's vacancy from most Sheratons In Israel and Herod in Eilat.

I generally am not married to a single airline or hotel. I usually priceline hotel rooms when travelling and fly with the best rates. (sometimes they dont accept SPG numbers this route)

On that note, if i were to book let's say a Hyatt via priceline, and pay with Amex Plat, will I still be able to receive the perks (late checkout, complimentary upgrade?)

[steve2]

Thanks for the thorough breakdown.. I have some pondering to do I see.

The tipping point for me might be Starwood's vacancy from most Sheratons In Israel and Herod in Eilat.

I generally am not married to a single airline or hotel. I usually priceline hotel rooms when travelling and fly with the best rates. (sometimes they dont accept SPG numbers this route)

On that note, if i were to book let's say a Hyatt via priceline, and pay with Amex Plat, will I still be able to receive the perks (late checkout, complimentary upgrade?)

 I dont have nor ever had the Amex Plat , but from what I understand in order to get any benefits that the Amex Plat offers you would have to book the Hotel via Amex and Not simply use the Amex to pay for the room

 I understand the PLing deal but there are times when either PL has nothing where you want to be or its still very expensive if a top notch Hotel is what you are looking for. So Cash & Pts if available I like since 1 I know which Hotel for sure I will be at & 2nd it will probably cost me less $$ then PLing would

True Israel is down to 3 *Ws  but if you travel outside of Israel SPG pts can come in very handy and Europe can be very Expensive

 I understand about flying with whomever is the least $$ but sometimes it does pay to spend a few bucks more in order to earn the miles and to try to stick with 1 Alliance in order to get some type of Status that can offer you some benefits that might save you some $$ in the end

[Dan]

With Amex Plat, one receives an upgrade to SPG Gold. If i dont forsee me reaching SPG Plat anytime in the near future, is it worth cancelling my Starwood CC in lieu of the Amex Plat?

Does Starwood Amex offer anything Amex Plat doesnt?

The better question is if AMEX Plat offers anything the SPG AMEX doesn't.

AMEX Plat: $450 annual fee.
-Lounge access:  This benefit merely requires having the card.  It does need to be active.  If you just apply for the card and never activate it or pay the fee it will still be good enough to get you into lounges.
-SPG Gold:  This status is next to worthless.  Besides many people here gotten SPG Gold by just called up SPG and asking for it.
-AMEX FHR Benefits: You only get AMEX Plat FHR enefits if you book through AMEX and pay their inflated rates.
-Lost item protection: This is quite possibly the only real benefit of having the card active.  If you lose anything you buy (up to $10K per item) within 3 months of buying it then AMEX will give you a full refund or replace the item.
-Points transfer to Continental at a 1:1 ratio.

SPG AMEX: Free for 1 year, then $65.
-Starpoints are worth more than AMEX MR points.  On the open market a Starpoint is worth 2-2.6 cents while an MR point is worth 1.4-1.7 cents.
-Great hotel deals: Cash and points can't be beat, 5th night free is very nice, and nights and flights can be excellent as well.
-Great airline transfers: 20,000 Starpoints become 25,000 miles with about 30 airlines.  There are exceptions.  Notably 20,000 becomes 50,000 with LAN and only 12,500 with CO/UA. 
There are too many good transfers to go through but they include:
-20,000 SPG to 25,000 Air Canada as they allow 2 stopovers and have an awesome surcharge-free Star Alliance chart where 80K gets you to Europe in business and 100K gets you to Asia and Australia in business!
-20,000 SPG to 50,000 LAN and you can get up to 4 round-trip oneworld tickets!
-20,000 SPG to 25,000 ANA and you can redeem for Israel flights on CO or US for 60,000 miles in coach or 90,000 miles in first with no surcharges.
-20,000 SPG to 25,000 US where you have a good Star Alliance chart and very liberal routing rules.
There are too many options to even go through.
Plus airlines like AA (20,000:33,750), Delta (20,000:62,500), and US (20,000:37,500) have in the past run very generous bonuses for Starpoint transfers and if you're patient you can get them when they come around again.

Both cards come with the excellent AMEX benefits like return protection, online dispute resolution, warranty extension, rental car insurance, etc.

[steve2]

AMEX Plat:

-AMEX FHR Benefits: You only get AMEX Plat FHR enefits if you book through AMEX and pay their inflated rates.

 Dan I know a number of people who use both the Amex Plat or Centurian to book their hotels, and dont feel they are getting ripped in the slightest. They dont want to play Craps at Check-in only to find a suite or room with a View arent avaialble. So although it probably doesnt pretain to anyone on here , the Card does have its benefits when booking Hotels. I was told they save alot of $$$ over what it would have cost them had they booked the same room and pkg on their own.

 No different then FC I know people who actually pay whatever the asking price is say for a FC or Biz to TLV, they can afford it and dont want to waste their time trying to Game the system, BTW if you or I made an hour what they did I know we Both would do as they do (they arent salaried workers just tried to figure knowing what they make a yr divided by x hrs would yield). Again I dont think wed find anyone on here in that ballpark on their own.

 So I agree that Amex Plat will probably not make much sense for someone on DD but it does in fact make sense for some people who dont have the time or desire to play like we do

[Dan]

Dan I know a number of people who use both the Amex Plat or Centurian to book their hotels, and dont feel they are getting ripped in the slightest. They dont want to play Craps at Check-in only to find a suite or room with a View arent avaialble. So although it probably doesnt pretain to anyone on here , the Card does have its benefits when booking Hotels. I was told they save alot of $$$ over what it would have cost them had they booked the same room and pkg on their own.

 No different then FC I know people who actually pay whatever the asking price is say for a FC or Biz to TLV, they can afford it and dont want to waste their time trying to Game the system, BTW if you or I made an hour what they did I know we Both would do as they do (they arent salaried workers just tried to figure knowing what they make a yr divided by x hrs would yield). Again I dont think wed find anyone on here in that ballpark on their own.

 So I agree that Amex Plat will probably not make much sense for someone on DD but it does in fact make sense for some people who dont have the time or desire to play like we do

FHR does not give a guaranteed upgrade.  It's based on availability at check-in.
It does provide breakfast, late checkout, and an amenity.
The rates that I checked on were significantly higher than web rates that I found for each property.

[steve2]

FHR does not give a guaranteed upgrade.  It's based on availability at check-in.
It does provide breakfast, late checkout, and an amenity.
The rates that I checked on were significantly higher than web rates that I found for each property.

 Nor does SPG until check-in. But a call to a Westin for a C&P for tommorrow night last Thurs night got me what I wanted a Top Floor room with a view. Seems the Suites etc are on lower floors. I did tell her I wasnt interested in a Suite since I knew it wouldnt have the view I wanted and that I have a noon flight out on Weds so no 4PM checkout if anything 9:30am at the very latest. (yes I checked at SPG.com and it shows not a traditional room but aDeLuxe High floor with water view which isnt a Standard room.)

 1 friend who spends a month what most people dont make gross in a year hasnt failed to have the Amex agent call the Hotel and secure for him what he wants and get it confirmed at the time he does the booking . But once again this wont be a reg occurance for most on here I agree