Y’all know I love a good opportunity to stack!

Well shiver me timbers and ’tis the season, but I’ve been putting most of my spending these days on… Amex cards?! Yup, even though I recently product changed to the precious Chase Sapphire Reserve.

For regular spending, I’m meeting the minimum requirement on the Hilton Amex (no fee version). And for everything else, I’ve been using my Starwood Amex business card to run payments through Plastiq. It’s just too good of a deal right now.

Here’s why.

Get 3X SPG points on Plastiq payments

There are two promotions at play here.

1. The 10K for $10K deal

• Link: Sign up for spend $10K get 10,000 SPG points promotion

The first is a targeted offer. It’s only for the business version of the SPG Amex.

You can earn 5,000 Starwood points when you spend $5,000 on your SPG Amex business card. And another 5,000 Starwood points when you spend $5,000 more.

Basically, you get 2X Starwood points per $1 on all spending, up to $10,000.

To enroll, click here and sign into your Amex account.

Oh but wait. You weren’t targeted? Neither was I. But I called Amex and was able to enroll in the offer anyway. I called the number on the back of the card – the phone agent knew the offer I was referencing and was able to apply it to my account.

So if you can’t enroll online, I recommend to call and ask if they can help you.

To get the deal, you must enroll and spend either $5,000 or $10,000 by December 15th, 2016. The good news is you have over a month to do that!

2. The small business promotion

• Link: Sign up for Amex Shop Small promotion
• Link: Plastiq

You can also get an extra point per $1 spent at “small businesses” through the end of 2016.

And again, you need to enroll online. This offer is available for all Amex cards (not just the SPG cards). But the beauty is in the stacking.

It combines with the previous offer. And, Plastiq is considered a “small business.”

You can use Plastiq to pay your:

• Mortgage or rent (Click for more details)
• Student loan (Ditto)
• Car payment
• Utilities

So, pretty much any bill. You can even pay an individual.

I’ve been paying (and pre-paying) everything through Plastiq. Because you get:

• 1 SPG point per $1 for regular spending
• 1 SPG point per $1 from the 10K for $10K offer
• 1 SPG point from the Shop Small promotion

That translates to 9 Marriott points per $1, too. Because you can transfer from Starwood to Marriott at a 1:3 ratio. And earning 3X SPG points is pretty sweet in and of itself.

If you max out this offer, you can earn a total of 30,000 Starwood points.

Drawbacks?

Yeppers. Plastiq charges a pesky 2.5% fee on credit card payments. So if you send $10,000 in payments, you’ll actually be spending $10,250, or $250 alone in fees.

Granted, 30,000 Starwood points are worth much, much more than that.

I actually just found an incredible deal. You can stay 3 nights at the Sheraton New Orleans for 10,000 Starwood points per night because it’s a Category 4 hotel. And you’ll be right on Canal Street for the parade. Plus, you’d get access to the lounge because that’s a perk of the SPG Amex biz card. (Mardis Gras is on February 28th in 2017.)

The retail price is currently over $1,000.

So yes, depending on how you use the points, it could be well worth it to pay Plastiq’s fee. If you parlay the points into a much more lucrative opportunity. In this example, you essentially get 3 nights in New Orleans during Mardi Gras for $250.

But it’s also only a good deal if you can afford to pay off your balance quickly. Because if you accrue interest, it’s not worth it. So assess and decide if it’s worth it for you.

I’m always paying business expenses, so it’s just cycling money through for me. If you’re in a similar situation, I’d say go for it.

If you don’t have the card, but need to spend $5K…

• Link: Apply for Card Offers

Why not sign up for the Amex SPG biz card?

You’ll earn 25,000 Starwood points when you use the card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

So for the first $5,000 in spend, you’d earn:

• 25,000 Starwood points for meeting the minimum spending
• 15,000 more points with the 3X in play

For a total of 40,000 Starwood points.

Of course, you’d earn 15,000 more points if you go for all $10,000, for a total of 55,000 Starwood points (165,000 Marriott points). And you’d need to apply very soon to take part.

But what if you aren’t targeted for the 10K for $10K offer? In that case, you could still get 2X with the Shop Small promotion. Or 35,000 Starwood points for spending $5K. And 45,000 points for $10K. Still worthwhile, but yeah, it wouldn’t be *as* awesome.

Find the offer

If you want to apply, you can click “Card Type” then “American Express” to find the offer (after you click the banner). You may need to scroll down. And be sure to select the business version of the card.

Worth a shot if you’re keen! (And I endlessly appreciate your support for using my links. It goes a LONG way toward supporting the site!)

Bottom line

I’m in the process of earning my 30,000 SPG points. By stacking the spend $10K get 10,000 SPG points promotion and Amex Shop Small promotion, you can get 3X SPG points on bill payments with Plastiq.

Be aware Plastiq charges a flat 2.5% fee on credit card payments. But it can still be worth it, because SPG points can go a long way.

Also, kudos to Amex for getting me to switch spend away from Chase (who made me switch spend away from Citi).

The current state of the game is fascinating right now. Curious to see what 2017 will bring. If it’s more promotions of this caliber from Amex and others, it will be a great year for earning points and miles. Because when banks compete, you win.

Did you get in on this 3X offer already? Also curious: are you using your Amex cards more this quarter? 

* If you liked this post, consider signing up to receive free blog posts in an RSS reader and you’ll never miss an update!