Hotel Rewards Comparison: Starwood Preferred Guest VS. Hilton HHonors® Platinum (10,000 Bonus Points, Free Nights, $100 Gift Cards, Etc.)
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express® VS
Hilton HHonors® Platinum Card from American Express®
Okay, so both of these are great cards. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other in an overall package, but rather one might be better depending on your preferences. So I thought I’d just do a quick comparison.
From the issuer:
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express®
- Earn 10,000 Starpoints® with your first purchase1 — enough for up to 3 free nights at a Category 1 or 2 hotel
- Plus– earn an additional 15,000 Starpoints when you spend $15,000 in 6 months
- Use Starpoints for free nights and upgrades at over 825 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in 95 countries
- Transfer Starpoints — almost always on a 1:1 basis — to the frequent flyer programs of over 30 major airlines
- Earn one Starpoint for every dollar of eligible spending5 and double Starpoints at participating Starwood properties and retail outlets
- First year fee-free and only $45 thereafter
If you were wondering, participating hotels include the Four Points® by Sheraton, Sheraton®, W® Hotels & Resorts, Le Meridien®, The Luxury Collection®, Westin® and St. Regis®
All the good ole fancy spots!
This card also lets you do a balance transfer WITHOUT a BT fee with a 2.9% APR for 6 months.
Note: You can exchange 10,000 sign-up Starpoints for:
- $100 Amazon.com gift certificate or
- 5 free weekend nights (2000 points per night) in Starwood category 1 hotels or
- 3 weekday nights (3000 points per night) in Starwood category 1 hotels.
Hilton HHonors® Platinum Card from American Express®
- Earn 10,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points with your first purchase
- Earn an additional 10,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points - that’s 2,500 Hilton HHonors bonus points for each of your first four stays at any Hilton Family Hotel
- Earn 30,000 HHonors bonus points when you spend $5,000 in your first 5 months of Cardmembership –that’s 15,000 bonus points in addition to the 15,000 points you would earn for your Card spending
- Get 5 Hilton HHonors® bonus points for each eligible dollar spent on stays at over 2,800 Hilton Family hotels worldwide and for eligible purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, dining establishments, the U.S. Postal Service, and for wireless phone bills
- Get 3 HHonors bonus points for every eligible dollar you spend on purchases
- No annual fee
This card offers the same 2.9% 6 month APR without a fee as the Starwood card, but participating Hilton hotels number over 2,700 worldwide as opposed to 825+ for Starwood qualifiers. Plus, there’s no annual fee here!








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