Question
Hi,
trying to find a credit card that is visa or mastercard that has similiar benefits to the starwoods program. What I mean by that is the ability to transfer miles to any of the programs offered. Any ideas would be much appreciated
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trying to find a credit card that is visa or mastercard that has similiar benefits to the starwoods program. What I mean by that is the ability to transfer miles to any of the programs offered.
Aren't we all?
P.S. Try Diners.
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www.dinersclubus.com is your best option.
Diners transfers take about two days and they have LOTS of partners and are accepted everywhere (MasterCard).
They do have a significant annual fee but offer other benefits (better car rental & travel accident insurance, 30 instead of 20-25 days to pay, international lounge access, etc).
Diners also has various transfer promos every year - 20-50% bonuses - if you transfer out during a promo you will do quite well.
But I keep my diners for flexibility - to transfer miles to any program at whim to top off an account for a premium award I am holding.
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Exactly, Diner's is your best (only?) option. They usually have 12K miles for free the first year, so the card isn't really THAT expensive after all.
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And their restaurant program is "iDine" but with money off instead of points. I have found some good restaurants with 40% discount. You do have to make sure that any particular restaurant participates in both the mileage and Diner's programs - but it is like he money discount of iDine - without the $49 yearly fee. The downside is that Diner's charges a fee to transfer points to miles which is why I don't use it more. I use it for car rental's and dining. My fee is waived because I have a citigold account at Citibank.
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Thanks for all the help guys
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www.dinersclubus.com is your best option.
Diners transfers take about two days and they have LOTS of partners and are accepted everywhere (MasterCard).
They do have a significant annual fee but offer other benefits (better car rental & travel accident insurance, 30 instead of 20-25 days to pay, international lounge access, etc).
Diners also has various transfer promos every year - 20-50% bonuses - if you transfer out during a promo you will do quite well.
But I keep my diners for flexibility - to transfer miles to any program at whim to top off an account for a premium award I am holding.
While acknowledging the ongoing transfer promos and the idine program, I would be hesitant to recommend Diners Club. The Starwood Amex gives you an automatic 25% bonus whenever you transfer 20,000 miles and furthermore, does not charge you any fees to transfer the points. It is also only $30/yr and they usually have anywhere from 6,000-10,000 bouns Starpoints for the first year. The iDine program is great if (1) you live near any of the restaurants and (2) they are places you want to eat. I live in the northern burbs of Chicago and the Diners iDine left a lot to be desired. Lastly, with the points at Starwood, you also have the option to use the points for hotel stays if you find a cheap airfare.
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But if someone were looking for a MC to be in addition to the AMEX starpoints card since not everyone takes AMEX, the new DC cobranded with MC might be a viable choice looking at the other features that might make it worth the fee. I was in a car accident, my fault, which totaled the car and was a $14K expense. Cost me nothing, and didn't go on my driving record since it didn't go to my auto insurance. I have used it for some 40% restaurants (MAZA in Chicago if you haven't tried it, 20 miles if you are doing miles is a recomendation), which only a few dines will save you the money of the fee. Or get a citigold account at citibank and have the fee waived. I don't like that they charge to transfer points, on the other hand I have a lot of BA miles (500K) mostly as a result of their 2 for 1 promo - and the fact that you can transfer in from other people's accounts makes this card a way to consolidate miles. So, it does have it's benefits. If we could only convince them to get rid of those transfer fees it would be a perfect card.
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But if someone were looking for a MC to be in addition to the AMEX starpoints card since not everyone takes AMEX, the new DC cobranded with MC might be a viable choice looking at the other features that might make it worth the fee. I was in a car accident, my fault, which totaled the car and was a $14K expense. Cost me nothing, and didn't go on my driving record since it didn't go to my auto insurance. I have used it for some 40% restaurants (MAZA in Chicago if you haven't tried it, 20 miles if you are doing miles is a recomendation), which only a few dines will save you the money of the fee. Or get a citigold account at citibank and have the fee waived. I don't like that they charge to transfer points, on the other hand I have a lot of BA miles (500K) mostly as a result of their 2 for 1 promo - and the fact that you can transfer in from other people's accounts makes this card a way to consolidate miles. So, it does have it's benefits. If we could only convince them to get rid of those transfer fees it would be a perfect card.
".... the fact that you can transfer in from other people's accounts makes this card a way to consolidate miles".
Must you pay for the tranfering in fees for those miles into you DC account? Same as transfering out, $0.95/1000points?
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No, it doesn't cost to transfer "in" but you lose 50% of the value. During the 2 for 1 with BA ( I believe the first promo was before this charge), you got it back when you did the transfer to BA, so it was a wash and a good way to gather miles from my daughter's and husband's accounts in Delta and American, and I think United. Unless there is a promo, you might not want to do this unless you are dealing with orphan miles that might not be enough to do anything with. or an airline you would prefer to not fly. Only when transferring out is there the charge. Even though I have never been on a paid BA flight, I have 500K miles in my account. Starwoods also had a 2 for 1 bonus with BA - that was the best, because you got the 5K bonus, which then got doubled - so 20K starpoints became 50K BA miles. Don't know if we'll ever see that again. That will be the only place my starpoints go, if not used for hotels.
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<<good way to gather miles from my daughter's and husband's accounts in Delta >>
Correct me if I'm wrong, but currently Delta does not permit transfers to any program. (I believe they may have offfed transfers to United when they had a partnership which fizzled.)
dennis
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There were changes, and that might be the case currently. A few year's ago I was able to empty their accounts and move to Diner's, and left miles in my Delta account in case I couldn't get something on AA, my main airline, I would have some in another airline.
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DL dropped out of DC's Miles-to-Points program. Only AA and UA are participating.
http://www.citibank.com/dinersus/clubrewards/catalog/2005/product/airtrvl/mls2pnts/mls2pnts.htm
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Duplicate.
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I couldn't remember which airline stopped their relationship. So I guess it was Delta that dropped out and United still belongs - is that right?