Home > > Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

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.2
Plus - earn an additional 15,000 Starpoints when you spend $15,000 in 6 months.3
Use Starpoints for free nights and upgrades at over 860 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in 95 countries.

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.2
  
• Plus - earn an additional 15,000 Starpoints when you spend $15,000 in 6 months.3
  
• Use Starpoints for free nights and upgrades at over 860 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.4
  
• Earn one Starpoint for every dollar of eligible spending5 and double Starpoints at participating Starwood properties and retail outlets.6
  
• Pay no annual fee for the first year and only $45 thereafter.7
  

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

• No annual fee for the first year; $45 each year thereafter.VI
  
• Additional Cards are fee-free. Payment Options
  
• Pay over time or pay in full.

• 2.90% Intro APR for 6 months on purchases made with the Card, then 14.99%.
  
• For Balance transfers, APR is 2.90% for the first 6 months, then 14.99%.
  

DID YOU KNOW?

	I recently replaced my business phone system to accommodate an increase in the volume of calls I was receiving. I own a car rental franchise and needed to have new lines and new phones installed to go along with the new customer service representative I needed to hire. By taking care of my customers and keeping my vehicles clean and available, I was able to build my business and force the closure of one of my two nearby competitors. The resulting influx of customers meant I needed to act fast in order to capitalize on my good fortune. Like most people would, I gave little thought to my phone system and just decided to go with the cheapest solution I could find. I purchased a new system that I was told would handle my volume. At first, I was more than satisfied as everything was working great and I had no problems. Shortly after I put the new phone system in place, I reduced our rental rates in order to try and get as many customers to switch over to my company from my now defunct competition instead of to my one remaining competitor. Even though I was operating at a loss for two months, my strategy was successful and my business increased yet again. The problem was that the phone system I purchased was designed to only handle a small amount of lines, and I was already at full capacity. While it was an improvement over my first system, it had limitations that I hadn't considered. I ended up having to replace it all over again, but this time I had the sense to go with a system that could grow with my business. Luckily, I was able to get some credit for returning the second phone system, which went toward the newest system. Still, I lost money, and had I only been less concerned with the bottom line and more concerned with getting what I really needed, I would have been better off. When buying a phone system for your company, make sure you purchase one that you won't outgrow if business starts booming. I wish someone had told me that before I made the mistake of trying to save a few bucks.

Credit card consolidation has been catching on as a popular and smart way for consumers to reduce their debt levels. The way that credit card consolidation works is like this: you obtain a new credit card with a nice size credit line and then transfer many of your outstanding loan balances over to the new card. Instead of paying 17.9%, 21.6%, or even 24% or more on credit card balances, a new low interest rate credit card can allow you to reduce your monthly payments and pay down your debt faster. Please keep reading for examples on how you can take charge of your debt.

Out with the old, in with the new

Much of the debt owed by consumers is through credit cards. If you have 1, 2, 3, or more cards, you probably are paying high interest rates on several of your outstanding balances. Your JC Penney, Macys, even your regular Visa or MasterCard can be charging you interest rates in excess of 20%! You can get out from underneath these burdens by selecting a new card with a low APR and transferring your balances over. In effect, you have created a credit card consolidation with your new card. Just don’t use your old cards again as you might find yourself with more debt than you can possibly manage!

Lower monthly payments, low APR

By transferring your high balances, you can save several hundred dollars per year in interest payments. With some cards, you can even get an introductory APR of 0% for the first twelve months. After that your variable rate is likely to be lower than what you paid for your store cards, bringing home big savings for you. In addition, you will have more money to pay off your existing balances faster. In effect, a credit card consolidation can help you get out of debt quicker. Less debt, better credit rating

By paying off your debt faster, your credit rating will improve. An improved credit rating can have a positive effect on future borrowing, especially if you are considering purchasing a new car or a home. All of this good stuff happens because you made the smart decision to go the credit card consolidation route to attack your debt.

Is everyone eligible for a credit card consolidation card?

Unfortunately, that answer is no. If you have very bad credit you likely will not be eligible. Still, unlike a debt consolidation loan done through your bank’s lending department, there are no application fees to apply for a credit card. So, go ahead and apply and you just may find yourself selected to carry a little piece of plastic that can go a long way toward helping you to achieve credit card consolidation.

Copyright 2006 Ed Vegliante. Free reprints of this article are allowed provided the resource box remains intact with a live link back to http://www.credit-card-surplus.com.