How to Combine SPG Starpoints Between Accounts

Here’s a lesser-known but generous feature of the Starwood Preferred Guest program: members of the same household can combine SPG Starpoints into one account. If you alone don’t have enough SPG points for a redemption, pool points with a family member for that upcoming vacation. I did exactly that, and I’ll show you how.

What are SPG Starpoints?

Starwood Preferred Guest is a hotel loyalty program where you earn points for each stay. These SPG Starpoints are a favorite for travelers: they have high value when you redeem at Starwood properties like Sheraton, Westin, and W Hotels, they can be transferred directly to miles in a huge list of frequent flyer programs, transferred to and from Marriott or Ritz Carlton Rewards, or redeemed for exclusive VIP Experiences.

You can also earn Starpoints with the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express. That’s my “go to” card for everyday spending on purchases that aren’t in any bonus category. Purchases earn 1 valuable Starpoint for each $1 spent.

Background

I’m currently working towards accumulating enough points for a hotel stay at the Walt Disney World Swan. The Swan is a Westin hotel with a great location near the Disney Boardwalk, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. My family of five will need two rooms. The Swan is a Starwood category 5 property which requires 12,000 Starpoints per night for a standard room. The 5th night free brings that down to 9,600 Starpoints per night, for a total of 48,000 per room. Factoring in room rates and taxes, I’m getting a value of a little over 3 cents per Starpoint for this redemption–not too bad.

I was short of the 96,000 total required Starpoints, so my wife recently applied for the SPG Amex credit card. I already have the card, so it’s not an option for me. Between the 25,000 signup bonus and spending, she has 29,000 Starpoints in her SPG account. Now all she needs to do is transfer points from her SPG account into mine.

How to Combine SPG Starpoints

SPG makes this process fairly simple, though not instantaneous. First, you’ll need the SPG account number and last name associated with the account that you plan on transferring points into. Then, sign in to the SPG account that you plan on transferring points from.

Click the top of the web page where your points are displayed, choose “Redeem Points”, then “More Options”. Instead of all that, you can simply click this link to get to the same page. Scroll down to the “Give Starpoints” section and click the downward facing arrow on the right.

Take note of the Terms & Conditions of the transfer, then click where it says TRANSFER STARPOINTS.

A form will then appear for you to enter the Account Number and Last Name of the SPG Member you are transferring to. You must also enter the number of Starpoints (in increments of 1000) that you would like to transfer.

Since this process leads to a manual review, the transfer is not instantaneous. Expect the points to show up in the receiving account after about 1 week. I did the transfer 2 days ago and am waiting for the points to arrive. Once they do, I can complete my hotel booking for the Disney Swan.

I’ll be back to update this post when the points are combined.

UPDATE: The points showed up in my account in 3 business days.