Way back in ancient times, circa 2010, the SPG American Express was my go-to card for all non-bonused spending. It earned a whopping 1 Starpoint per dollar. Those points could be used for stays at Starwood brand hotels. You could also transfer points at a 1:1 ratio from SPG to over 40 airlines and if you transferred 20,000 points you’d receive a 5,000 point bonus. So if you’d maximize the bonus, non-bonused spend would earn you 1.25 airline miles per dollar spent, which at the time was great as almost all other co-brand cards would earn 1 point per dollar.
When Marriott purchased Starwood, the exchange ratio for Starpoints to Marriott was set at 1:3. Spending money on the SPG AMEX still made sense since you could still redeem points at SPG or Marriott hotels. Up until 2018, it only took 12,000 Starpoints to stay at a hotel like the Sheraton New York Times Square and if you booked 4 nights, the fifth night was free (A free night at that hotel now costs 40,000 to 60,000 Bonvoy points).
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