# Transferring American Express SPG points to AGR



## Tumbleweed (Sep 13, 2010)

I have some American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card points I want to transfer to AGR.....anybody know how to do this? :help:


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## darien-l (Sep 13, 2010)

Tumbleweed said:


> I have some American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card points I want to transfer to AGR.....anybody know how to do this? :help:


The only way to do this is to call SPG: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/partners/detail.html?PartnerCode=AMTRAK&IndustryType=TRANSPORTATION

Their phone number is 888-625-4988


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## Tumbleweed (Sep 13, 2010)

darien-l said:


> Tumbleweed said:
> 
> 
> > I have some American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card points I want to transfer to AGR.....anybody know how to do this? :help:
> ...


Thank you very much! :hi:


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## jmbgeg (Sep 13, 2010)

darien-l said:


> Tumbleweed said:
> 
> 
> > I have some American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card points I want to transfer to AGR.....anybody know how to do this? :help:
> ...



Yes and no. I have my SPG account set up to transfer points from hotel stays automatically to AGR after each stay. Works well and fast. Existing points and new points from activities other than hotel stays need to be transfered by phone; 5,000 point minimum transfer. I love the Amex>SPG>AGR connection.


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## amamba (Sep 13, 2010)

It is very nice, Starwood points can be transferred on a 1:1 basis from Starwood to amtrak. But make sure you want to transfer them to amtrak permanently - you can't go BACK at the same rate. It is a really crappy exchange to switch them back.

I know, I know, the horrors, I was thinking about transferring about 15k miles back to starwood for a free night but my 15,000 amtrak points would not equal 15,000 starwood points on the other side.


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## jmbgeg (Sep 14, 2010)

amamba said:


> It is very nice, Starwood points can be transferred on a 1:1 basis from Starwood to amtrak. But make sure you want to transfer them to amtrak permanently - you can't go BACK at the same rate. It is a really crappy exchange to switch them back.
> 
> I know, I know, the horrors, I was thinking about transferring about 15k miles back to starwood for a free night but my 15,000 amtrak points would not equal 15,000 starwood points on the other side.


Let's look at the math. 15,000 is a one zone roomette award on AGR. Price out the cost of a Seattle to Los Angeles roomette ticket on the Coast Starlight vs. the value of one hotel night free and it should be a no brainer. Add 5,000 miles and do the comparison of a deluxe bedroom award and the delta can be 5X more value up for the AGR award.


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## amamba (Sep 14, 2010)

Well I got a room in Boston at the westin that was retailing for $429 with 12,000 starwood points. Sure, its a point value of $0.037575, and I know that the best trips can be taken that give point values in the $0.07/range.

Add to the fact that as much as I would love to take a LD train trip, all the good trains are on the wrong coast for me and I have over 50,000 amtrak points plus not enough time to do a trip across the country right now, and that is why I was interested in switching back. Plus the redemption for acela is actually quite pricey in terms of points for what you get so I am always loathe to use my points for acela tix.

If you want to convince my boss to give me two weeks off to travel the country via train, I'll give you his phone number


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## jimhudson (Sep 14, 2010)

amamba said:


> Well I got a room in Boston at the westin that was retailing for $429 with 12,000 starwood points. Sure, its a point value of $0.037575, and I know that the best trips can be taken that give point values in the $0.07/range.
> 
> Add to the fact that as much as I would love to take a LD train trip, all the good trains are on the wrong coast for me and I have over 50,000 amtrak points plus not enough time to do a trip across the country right now, and that is why I was interested in switching back. Plus the redemption for acela is actually quite pricey in terms of points for what you get so I am always loathe to use my points for acela tix.
> 
> If you want to convince my boss to give me two weeks off to travel the country via train, I'll give you his phone number


AGR points do not expire as long as you take a trip every three years which is no problem where you live! I might pay $400 to spend the night in the Lincoln Bedroom @ the WH but not a Boston Hotel! If it wasnt for New York City this would be the most overpriced city in the US for hotels! I understand about the Acela and AGR, plus you get more points using matching city pairs! Just rack up the points, put em in the AGR "Bank" and remember someday youll have the time and opportunity to ride the Western Scenic trains, you are not in prison

nor the military!


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## the_traveler (Sep 14, 2010)

amamba said:


> I know that the best trips can be taken that give point values in the $0.07/range.
> 
> Add to the fact that as much as I would love to take a LD train trip, all the good trains are on the wrong coast for me and I have over 50,000 amtrak points plus not enough time to do a trip across the country right now


I've received over 12¢ per point!






And if you don't want your 50K points, you can always give them to me! I'll give them a good home!


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## amamba (Sep 15, 2010)

I guess the one good thing about banking all of my AGR point is that when I finally do take my awesome trip around the country, I will have enough points for stopovers in key cities like LA, Seattle, Chicago, etc. I know, I know, who could complain about having too many points?  Let's just hope that they don't raise the point redemption on us when AGR goes in house.


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## Ispolkom (Sep 15, 2010)

Amamba,

I agree with you that AGR points aren't always the best value. In the past year I've slowly come around to the idea of hedging my frequent-traveler programs. Sure, AGR redemptions can be spectacularly good values, and having a stash of them is very convenient for special events like next month's ride with the Great Dome on the Cardinal. That doesn't mean, though, that I feel completely comfortable stockpiling them. After all, as you mention, AGR sooner or later is going to devalue, like every other frequent-traveler program. You could even argue that this year's elimination of loophole trips was such a devaluation. And even if I can get time off to travel across the country, there is still a limit on the number of AGR trips I can take.

Instead of piling everything into AGR, I now spread things out among AGR and a couple of hotel programs (in my case Hilton and Choice). Sure, I could transfer my Choice points to AGR and perhaps have a bigger bang on the buck, but I'd rather use them to pay for my hotel in New Orleans at the end of my Minot-Chicago-Washington-Slidell AGR award trip. The cents-per-point return for the hotel stay might not be as great as if I had converted to AGR points (about 2.5 cents per point given the Choice-AGR conversion rate), but it's a bird in the hand rather than points that might devalue.

Plus, there are intangibles. Mrs. Ispolkom is a good sport, but her tolerance of squalor is much lower than mine, and it's a good investment to occasionally stay in a nice hotel. Preferably one that serves afternoon tea. If I can do this without spending cash, we're both happy.

Starwood points I'm not sure about. We have a pile of them from the recent credit card offer, but I'm not sure yet whether it would be better for us to transfer them to AGR or to save them for hotel stays.


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## amamba (Sep 15, 2010)

I would save your starwood points as starwood until you know for sure that you would use them for an AGR award. Like I said, there is definitely value to being able to get a free hotel room with points when you decide - very last minute - to spend out with the Mrs (in your case) or the Mr (in my case).

I like to get lots of free stuff - not just amtrak travel - so free hotel rooms are always a good thing for me. I am actually contemplating getting the SPG amex right now.


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## pennyk (Sep 18, 2010)

I just tried by telephone to transfer my Starwood points to my AGR account and was informed that each account has to be titled identically. Unfortunately my Starwood account does not have my middle initial and my AGR account does. I am in the process now of trying to add a middle initial to my Starwood account (which they cannot do by phone and I cannot do myself on line).


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## jmbgeg (Sep 18, 2010)

pennyk said:


> I just tried by telephone to transfer my Starwood points to my AGR account and was informed that each account has to be titled identically. Unfortunately my Starwood account does not have my middle initial and my AGR account does. I am in the process now of trying to add a middle initial to my Starwood account (which they cannot do by phone and I cannot do myself on line).


I know. I dropped by M.I. on one of the accounts to get there. It worked, but Grrr.


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## amamba (Sep 19, 2010)

pennyk said:


> I just tried by telephone to transfer my Starwood points to my AGR account and was informed that each account has to be titled identically. Unfortunately my Starwood account does not have my middle initial and my AGR account does. I am in the process now of trying to add a middle initial to my Starwood account (which they cannot do by phone and I cannot do myself on line).


Call AGR and ask them to drop the middle initial?

Yeah, this is annoying. This did actually happen to my husband because of the whole nickname/legal name but he was able to get it sorted out because it was just shortening his first name or lengthening it. But make sure you get the names matched up right before you transfer the points.


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