Starwood Business Card from American Express Review

Even if you already have the Starwood personal Preferred Guest Card from American Express we recommend you should get this card to make more bonus points in your account. You can use this American Express card from Starwood to monitor and book your expenses for small to large business accounts. Keep track of your employees, group members, and part-time help easily with this card.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express OPEN is a card that is especially helpful to those that travel a lot. It is similar to the JetBlue Business Card as it offers holders the ability to earn points for free flights. However, while the JetBlue Business Card allows card holders to get discounts on accommodations, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card also offers points that can be used for hotel accommodations.

The Starwood card gives card holders 10,000 Starpoints for their first purchase. By earning points card holders can enjoy free nights at any one of 940 hotels across the globe as well as earn points for flights that can be used for 350 commercial airlines as well. Card holders do not have to worry about blackout dates and can even transfer Starpoints to more than 30 other frequent flyer programs. As a matter of fact, when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints, you can even earn an additional 5,000 bonus points.

Points are earned for every dollar spent on purchases, with 2 points awarded for every dollar spent on Starwood purchases. The JetBlue card offers 8 points for every dollar spent a their website and 2 points for gas, car rental, wireless service, and office supply purchases, with one point per dollar on other purchases. JetBlue does charge a $40 annual fee for their card, while a Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card is free for the first year and then carries a $45 annual fee.

Besides earning points that an be redeemed for free hotel rooms and free flights and being able to transfer points to other frequent flyer programs, Starwood also has some special rewards for those who earn points regularly. For instance, 84,000 Starpoints can reward you with a one week stay at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, while 720,000 Starpoints can be used to set up a conference with 15 employees at The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida for 4 days.

While the JetBlue Business Credit Card may be beneficial to those who use Jet Blue services frequently, the fact that the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN provides card holders with not only a chance to save money on flights but also use rewards to obtain hotel accommodations makes this a much more valuable choice for many business people. Considering there is no annual fee for the first year and points can be earned easily on every dollar spent on purchases, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card looks like a valid choice for many frequent travelers.

Transfering points from the Starwood Preferred Business website to a personal SPG program is as simple as logging in and it shows up in your account in a few days. This rivals other Business programs that you have to use their points seperate from the main point earning.

REVIEW August 2010 - Please check card issuers site for more current details as their may be changes since the review was written.