As I wrote about in April, I was thrilled to be approached by the Starwood American Express to join their SPG Amex Stars program, whereby I’ll get to experience a lot of the great benefits of the Starwood American Express credit card throughout the year. Best of all, for each experience I have, a lucky winner will have an equally awesome experience as well. Over the year the Starwood American Express will be sponsoring giveaways for 210,000 SPG points plus a $250 American Express gift card.

What we’re giving away:

This giveaway is in conjunction with my recent stay at the new St. Regis Bal Harbour, which I wrote about yesterday. The hotel costs 30,000 SPG points per night, so this giveaway will be for 60,000 SPG points. If there’s one giveaway to participate in it’s this one, since it’s the single biggest points prize.

What you can do with 60,000 SPG points:

  • Spend two nights at the St. Regis Bal Harbour.
  • Spend 21 nights at Le Meridien Bangkok using Starwood’s awesome Cash & Points option. Instead of redeeming 7,000 SPG points per night you can redeem 2,800 points plus $45 per night, which is a spectacular value.
  • Convert them to 75,000 airline miles with American, Delta, US Airways, or any of a number of other airlines. For every 20,000 points you transfer to an airline program, you get a 5,000 point bonus, which for me is one of the key selling points of the card.
  • Spend 24 nights at Le Meridien Chiang Rai. The hotel can be as cheap as 3,000 SPG points per night, and when redeeming SPG points for free nights the fifth night is free. So at 3,000 points per night with the fifth night free, 10 nights at Le Meridien Chiang Rai takes only 24,000 SPG points.

Or you can just mix and match all of the above. :)

Why I love St. Regis properties:

Before we get into the giveaway, I do want to point out that I think St. Regis is my new favorite hotel brand, now that I’ve stayed at a few of their properties over the past year. As you may have noticed in my recent reviews I’ve been leveraging American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts and Virtuoso for shorter stays at Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons properties. The benefits can be great, but it’s always frustrating not to earn valuable points or loyalty program benefits for those stays. Four Seasons doesn’t have a loyalty program, while Ritz Carlton does, though it’s similar to Marriott Rewards, which in my opinion isn’t nearly as good as Starwood or Hyatt. So while it’s a great loyalty program for a luxury hotel chain, it still can’t compete with the “mainstream” programs, in my opinion.

That’s the beauty of St. Regis. Their properties are on par with Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton, with the advantage of being tied in with what I consider to be one of the best hotel loyalty program. It’s awesome as a Platinum member to get free breakfast, late check-out, suite upgrades, and free internet, not to mention to earn valuable elite qualifying nights and points towards elite status and free nights. That’s not even factoring in the fact that most St. Regis properties belong to American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts and Virtuoso, whereby you can “double dip” benefits and get free breakfast, room upgrades, guaranteed late check-out, and an added amenity like a $100 food and beverage credit. It’s really pretty awesome.

How to enter:

While some of the future giveaways will be run through the blog, this one will be run through Twitter. Here’s how to enter:

1. Follow @OneMileataTime on Twitter.

2. Tweet which St. Regis property you’d most like to stay at (here’s a list), and be sure you include both @OneMileataTime and the hashtag #SPGAMEX in the Tweet

3. You can Tweet me once per calendar day (let’s define that as 12:00AM EDT till 11:59PM EDT), and the contest will run through 11:59PM EDT on Monday, August 6.

For example, an eligible Tweet would be:

@OneMileataTime I’d stay at the St. Regis Bal Harbour #SPGAMEX

Basic terms:

While I won’t post the full four pages of terms and conditions, the basics are that you have to be at least 18 years old and have an SPG account to be eligible to win. The winner will also have to complete a W9 (ARV of prize is $1,500). If anyone needs any clarification, feel free to ask below in the comments section or email me.

Picking a winner:

A winner will be picked at random within a week of the end of the giveaway. Each eligible Tweet counts as one entry, so the more days you enter, the better your chance of winning. If my math is right you can enter up to 14 times.

Good luck and happy Tweeting!

Posted on July 24th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Free Miles/Points, Hotels, SPG | 44 Comments »

  1. July 24th, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Brian said,

    Canadians good to enter?

  2. July 24th, 2012 at 12:08 pm

    Food Wine and Miles said,

    Great promo! St. Regis is probably my favorite brand as well, and you better believe I’ll be entering every day!

  3. July 24th, 2012 at 12:08 pm

    Ralph said,

    Open for non-US residents?

  4. July 24th, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    alex said,

    if we win, what would the points be valued at for the W9?

  5. July 24th, 2012 at 12:14 pm

    Oscar said,

    What is a W9?

  6. July 24th, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    Danny said,

    Nice promo!

  7. July 24th, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    JD said,

    @ Those asking about the W9 and non-US residents, it’s a tax withholding form in the US. Google it :)

    @Lucky I can’t believe you made me open a new twitter account just to spam you.

  8. July 24th, 2012 at 12:29 pm

    Apu said,

    Can it be a different hotel everyday?

  9. July 24th, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    MS said,

    I’m not a fan of these types of giveaways. So SPG wants your readers to become spamming whores to all of our Twitter followers? All for a CHANCE at some SPG points? Unless they are paying me to market their products, not a chance.

  10. July 24th, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    Jake said,

    Can Europeans also participate?

  11. July 24th, 2012 at 12:39 pm

    Apu said,

    Tweeted… and marked my calendar to do so every single day.

    How are you limiting someone for once per calendar day? Got some mechanism to control that?

  12. July 24th, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    James said,

    What is the value that will be assessed on the w9. This is imp for tax purposes

  13. July 24th, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    Dave said,

    Twitter? Lame.

  14. July 24th, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    Victor said,

    Easy one! Since I already follow you on Twitter!

  15. July 24th, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    anon. said,

    SR better than PH????

  16. July 24th, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    Dan said,

    Twitter contests? Fail.

  17. July 24th, 2012 at 3:44 pm

    jesse o said,

    You’ll get a W9 for $2100 (assuming $.035 per each point).

    At an average tax rate of 25% these points are going to cost $550 to the winner.

  18. July 24th, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    David said,

    Obv, the true value of 60K SPG pts is either 60 SPG50 certs, or 12 $50 amazon.com gift cards. I’m surprised Lucky didn’t know this…

    But seeing the choices above, 2 nts at the St. Regis Bal Harbour just isn’t worth it…

  19. July 24th, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Brian @ Ralph @ Jake — I believe so, though let me get official confirmation shortly.

    @ alex @ James — I’ll have that for you shortly.

    @ Apu — Yep, you can do a different one every day if you want. I know there’s more than one I want to stay at. :p

  20. July 24th, 2012 at 4:27 pm

    ASW said,

    I’m really bummed that it’s another Twitter based giveaway. As a Non-Tweeter I didn’t enter the May SPG giveaway, and was truly hoping you’d give non-Twitter folks a chance at the prize with this new contest. Any alternate method of entry for the rest of us? How about commenting on this post with the word “Tweet”?

  21. July 24th, 2012 at 5:52 pm

    rich (arizona) said,

    They do all these facebook/twitter/etc giveaways because they want your information. The best thing to do is to set up temp accounts for contests like these. Most of the time I’m too lazy to do so but I sure wouldn’t use my real address(es).

  22. July 24th, 2012 at 8:11 pm

    Oscar said,

    I thought that 99% of the people have twitter

  23. July 24th, 2012 at 8:49 pm

    Mike H said,

    If you don’t like the promo, just don’t do it and stop complaining! Thanks Lucky for the chance to win these startpoints! #Lucky4President

  24. July 24th, 2012 at 9:27 pm

    Jane said,

    Showing my age but how do I tweet?

  25. July 24th, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    ASW said,

    @Oscar – If 99% have Twitter, then I’m in the other 1%.

    @ Mike H – I believe you’re responding to my comment. To clarify, I appreciate that Lucky is sponsoring a giveaway that will allow his loyal readers to experience an SPG resort property with 60K points. So I do actually like the promo. I am just disappointed that more readers can’t participate without joining another social network. That’s all.

    @ Jane – Twitter is a social networking platform that allows people to communicate to the masses in real time in snippets that are 140 characters or less. More info can be found on their website. http://twitter.com/

  26. July 24th, 2012 at 10:14 pm

    Teck said,

    /prays it’s open to followers in Singapore. :P

  27. July 25th, 2012 at 5:46 am

    Dan said,

    Before tweeting, let’s wait to see what Lucky says about how the 1099 will value those points. Some U.S. readers may pay up to 40% in taxes (between state and federal), and almost all readers will pay at least 25%, so depending on how the points are valued this might be a promotion worth skipping.

  28. July 25th, 2012 at 12:08 pm

    Toula said,

    My husband won a previous promotion thru SPG. The points were valued at 2.5 cents a piece so 60k points will give you a tax value of $1500 to report to the IRS.

  29. July 25th, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    Jaba said,

    Tks but NO tks!!!!! The rules about paying taxes for points you receive as a gift is very shady. You may end up paying a lot fo money for something you may not even use for a while. I always wondered how blogers like you manage all the perks you get from hotels, airlines and credit cards for promoting their products. For example, if I use your link to apply to a credit card you get a referral fee. Do you pay taxes on those? How about the “free stay” at St. Regis Bal Harbour? Do you pay taxes for that gift? Just want to have some real cases to see if it makes sense to enter in these promotions.

  30. July 25th, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    Nick E said,

    Ugh, why ruin a great promo with actually forcing us to pay TAXES??? ;-)

  31. July 25th, 2012 at 8:50 pm

    James said,

    I do find it annoying that Amex will give lucky a couple free nights (tax free) and wont disclose to us how much tax we will have to pay on it (ie the value). This is a big deal to me… I won’t enter till I know how much it will cost me, just like I won’t book an award ticket without know how much the taxes are.

    Please, if you do a promo, find out the value we are taxed at. It does matter. Still waiting… Thanks.

  32. July 26th, 2012 at 3:50 am

    Harry said,

    I just bought 20,000 Star Woods points for $560, so paying $1500 for 60,000 points not that bad of a deal.

  33. July 26th, 2012 at 4:24 am

    Harry said,

    As a US citizen Tax on 1600 should be between 200 and 300 depending on your taxable income.

  34. July 26th, 2012 at 6:55 am

    James said,

    @harry

    Umm more like $400-$700 depending on your state tax rate

  35. July 26th, 2012 at 10:08 am

    Adam G said,

    Will this work if you’re account is private? I’m going to guess not if you’re going to search for the hash tags as entry.

  36. July 26th, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    Deal of the Day – TripAlertz – July 26, 2012 | Frugal Travel Guy said,

    [...] Lucky is giving away 60,000 SPG points [...]

  37. July 26th, 2012 at 3:39 pm

    Wise2u said,

    not signing up to be a twit, just to get a tax bill if I win the points.
    contest FAIL.

  38. July 26th, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    Carolyn T said,

    Thanks, but NO THANKS!! I won’t follow you or anyone else on Twitter for a CHANCE like this.

  39. July 27th, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Victor said,

    Grumps!

  40. July 27th, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    Panda said,

    Yes please don’t enter. A better chance for the rest of us :)

  41. July 28th, 2012 at 2:31 am

    MILES MOMMA DEALS - July 28, 2012 » Miles Momma | Miles Momma said,

    [...] Tweet to win 60,000 Starwood points from One Mile at a Time VN:F [1.9.20_1166]please wait…Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)VN:F [1.9.20_1166]Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)No related posts. [...]

  42. July 28th, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    lucky said,

    Hi folks, I had updated the post, though forgot to post here. The ARV of the prize is $1,500, and this is open to international members as well.

  43. August 12th, 2012 at 8:26 pm

    pilot said,

    Carolyn, you do not want to follow or enter then just don,t, no need to let the whole world know about it, too many empty entries like yours make it harder for others to read what matters

  44. August 12th, 2012 at 8:30 pm

    lucy said,

    i never believe the too many cheepos out there, you are given an opportunity for free SPG points, and you worry about paying taxes, will not follow on twitter, private twitter accounts etc

    45. Add A Comment

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