MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
SPG Moments offer one-of-a-kind musical, sporting, or cultural experiences to Starwood Preferred Guest members. SPG Moments are unique in that they provide an experience that would be very difficult, or next to impossible, to put together yourself. After last night, I can attest to this statement.
Yesterday I attended the US Open evening session and was lucky enough to watch world class tennis from Starwood Preferred Guest’s Luxury Suite. You can too, by bidding on an SPG Moments US Open package.
From pictures I’ve seen of last year’s SPG Suite, it looks like this year’s was an upgrade.
It is located in Arthur Ashe Stadium and has a killer view. Last night was the closest I’ve ever been to the court of a major sporting event.
We watched Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova duke it out first. Normally, those two wouldn’t be much of a match, but with Serena somewhat injured and tired from Wimbledon and the Olympics, Makarova had a fighting chance.
Taking a Serena selfie was mandatory because, well, it’s Serena Williams.
Meanwhile, I enjoyed the indoor portion of the suite, which was spacious and well stocked with tasty food and drink– plenty of top shelf booze to go around. Air conditioning was a huge plus with the muggy late summer heat.
There were crudités and finger foods like those pictured below, as well as a hot bar of entrée options and a salad bar. All the food I tried was good especially considering that it’s hard to keep buffet style food tasting fresh. Staff rotated out dishes continuously as we finished them off and replaced them with new choices.
After Serena won the ladies match and before the mens match began, our host introduced surprise guest tennis star James Blake. The room abuzz with excitement, Blake spoke to us about his experience over the years achieving his career-high singles ranking of #4 in the world.
He was a humble gentleman, patiently answering everyones questions and posing for pictures afterwards. Blake, among other tennis greats like Andre Agassi, has taught Starwood’s pro-tennis clinic which is offered as an SPG Moments package each year.
Scott Mayerowitz asked Blake, “Coming from someone who travels often, what’s the first thing you do when you get to a hotel room?”
Blake replied that he enjoys hotel rooms with lots of space and right off the bat throws his clothes all over the place. I can 100% relate to that one.
Other fun celebrity sightings: Bille Jean King, Andre Agassi, Anna Wintour (editor of Vogue), and a handful of Olympians like swimmer Simone Manuel who just snagged two gold and two silver medals in Rio.
A friend that came along as my +1 happened to catch a shot of the two seconds we were displayed on Arthur Ashe’s jumbotron.
Does that make us celebrities?
Next up came the mens’ match, Andy Murray versus Lukáš Rosol. Murray cruised, defeating Rosol 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Throughout the event hosts and staff made sure you were never left wanting. They went out of their way to make you feel like a VIP. As a final touch before departing, everyone was given a goodie bag full of SPG branded products.
Bottom Line
While you should normally save your Starpoints for transferring to one of their myriad airline partners, SPG occasionally offers incredible value through Moments by SPG. In December of 2014, Scott won two tickets to a Capital Cities concert in Buenos Aires that came with a chance to meet the band and a cocktail reception for only 6,000 SPG Starpoints through an SPG Moments auction.
If you’re a tennis fan, I highly recommend looking into SPG Moments for next year’s US Open. Bidding prices for the packages can be high, but an experience like a tennis clinic instructed by James Blake or court side seats to a final match could be worth it tenfold if you’re a tennis junkie.
I would like to extend a big thank you to those who helped coordinate last night’s event. You made the whole experience seamless and unforgettable.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
While this was totally comped for MileValue, it reminds me a lot of the level of hospitality at the Capital Cities backstage tickets I got for 6,000 SPG points, so I think this is a fair assessment of SPG Moments packages.
Thx Scott — makes sense. I appreciate the candor and datapoint(s).
Good post — you have me intrigued!
But how can I determine whether it’s a good value if we don’t know how many SPG points it cost? Can you please let us know how much it cost you? Thanks, Sarah — and welcome to MV family.
Glad to hear that, Drew. Thanks for the welcome.
For the evening of the Men’s Finals the suite sold for 111,000 Starpoints. I’m waiting to hear back from a contact about the winning bid amounts of other experiences at this year’s US Open, and I’ll update the post when I do.
Thx Sarah.