I have accumulated more than 24,000 starpoints in my starwood preferred guest preferred guest account since I got the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express in October 2007. Some days ago I wanted to purchase a Pentax Lens at Amazon.Com. So I decided to redeem 9500 starpoints for $100 Amazon.Com Gift Certificate. I submitted the request online on 04/04/2008. After submitting the request, I received the notice that I will receive the gift certificate in 4~6 weeks.

However, two days later, I received a info notice from UPS that I had a package from Charlotte, NC. The next day I got the package and it was the $100 Amazon.Com gift Certificate as I request from Starwood Preferred Guest Program! I didn’t expect that I can receive the gift certificate so quick! They used UPS 2nd day air to deliver the package to me. It’s truly a surprise to me. I expected SPG would use USPS to send the gift certificate to me. You can see the starpoint activity record below.

That’s why I like this credit card. Excellent rewards program and customer service are the reasons make this card perfect. You can use 9,500 points to redeem a $100 Amazon.com/GAP/Banana Republic/Starbuck gift card. Or you can use 3,500 points to redeem a $50 off coupon at Avis.com. You can also use those points to redeem free night stays at Starwood hotels. You can start to redeem a free weekend night by using 2,000 points. For example, a weekend night at Chicago Four Points by Sheraton Fairview Heights will cost you 2,000 Starwood points (3,000 points for weekdays). However, it will cost you about $120.00 if you want to pay the room with credit card or cash. So the cash back is equal to 6% (4% for weekdays). You will also automatically get Gold Starwood status with this card, which will give you room upgrade choice. (Choose the cheapest room, and then upgrade at check-in.)

I have many posts about the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express (post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4, post 5).

Some benefits about this card:

• Earn 10,000 Starpoints® with your first purchase — enough for up to 3 free nights at a category 1 or 2 hotel.
• Earn 15,000 bonus Starpoints after 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 you spend and double Starpoints® at participating Starwood properties and retail partners
• No annual fee for the first year and $45 thereafter
• Express Approval. Get a decision in less than 60 seconds.

If you don’t have a Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express, you’d better get one.

Sony Promotional Points Have Been Posted to YourAccount

Today I noticed that the 10,000 SonyRewards promotional bonus points have been posted to my account. This 10,000 points are equal to $100 and you can redeem anything at www.sonyrewards.com. If you have only 10,000 points, you can redeem a Sony Cyber-shot cameras, a Sony Walkman Video Player, or other similar items. If you see a poll at the right in your account, you have the chance to win another 100 sony points! I ordered a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120/B digital camera with all my Sony points. Of course, I have to buy about 7000 points from point bank. (1 point=$0.01) However, I still think this is a good deal. $70 for a DSC-W120/B is not bad.