Starpoints Transfer to 50% More American Airlines Miles Until September 14

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You have less than two weeks left to take advantage of this transfer bonus! 

Until September 14, 2016, you can transfer 20,000 SPG Starpoints to 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles. This is a repeat of an awesome promo we saw in the summers of 2014 and 2015.

• How many Starpoints can you transfer?
• Do Starpoints transfer instantly to American Airlines miles?
• In what increment must you transfer Starpoints to maximize this deal?
• How many Starpoints should you transfer speculatively?

Here’s what American Airlines says:

Convert your Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints^® to AAdvantage® miles and earn a 20% bonus from August 1 – September 14, 2016.

Plus, if you convert 20,000 points in one transaction, Starwood automatically adds a 5,000 bonus.  

With the additional 20% mileage bonus offered by the AAdvantage program, you’ll receive 30,000 miles from the transaction.

The bottom line is 20,000 SPG Starpoints = 30,000 American Airlines miles until August 31.

• 20,000 Starpoints = 20,000 AAdvantage miles (1:1 transfer partner)
• Standard SPG bonus = 5,000 AAdvantage miles per 20,000 Starpoints transferred
• AAdvantage 20% mileage bonus = 5,000 AAdvantage miles
• Total: 20,000 Starpoints = 30,000 AAdvantage miles

How Many Starpoints Can You Transfer?

You can transfer up to 79,999 Starpoints per 24 hours to an airline. Since you need to send Starpoints in exact 20k point increments to maximize transfer bonuses, the effective limit is 60,000 Starpoints per day to 90,000 American Airlines miles.

Starpoints do not transfer instantly to American Airlines miles. The transfer usually take 2-4 days in my experience.

Other than the daily limit, there is no limit to the number of Starpoints you can transfer to American Airlines miles during this promotion.

Speculative Transfers

I value Starpoints at 2.5 cents each and AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents each, so I’d rather have 20,000 Starpoints ($500) than 30,000 American Airlines miles ($450). So I am not going to rush off and convert all my Starpoints to American Airlines miles since transferring kills the option value of holding transferable points. What if for my next award Asiana or Singapore or British Airways or Delta miles are better than American Airlines miles? I’d rue my transfer.

However, if you have an immediate high value redemption in the mind, then this transfer bonus could help to top off your AAdvantage account balance.

It is also very important to note that the bonus American Airlines miles will not post until after the SPG > AAdvantage transfer is complete, and could take up to seven business days according to the promotion’s terms and conditions (detailed below). You can hold American Airlines’ awards free of charge for five days, but not beyond that.

Get More American Airlines Miles

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard® offers 30,000 bonus American Airlines miles after making $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of opening the card.

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® offers 50,000 bonus American Airlines miles after spending $5,000 in the first three months.

Included in the $450 annual fee, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® offers Admirals Club lounge membership, meaning you and up to 32 other people can access over 90 American Airlines Clubs in airports around the world whenever you’re flying–even if you’re not flying on American and and even if you’re not present.

Offer Terms and Conditions

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