Starwood is offering 30,000 points for new cardmembers until July 6, 2010. This is one of the best offers for the Starwood American Express card for signup. Upon approval, $1,000 in eligible purchases need to be made in order to get the 30,000 points credited. If you have been considering this card, now is the time.  They usually have the 10,000 point promo, so this is a much better deal.

https://www143.americanexpress.com/apisites/LandingAction.do?partnerId=95&channel=1000&landingCode=93&IM=SPG_11549424SS_AMEX_US_RSS

What are the benefits to this card? Personally, I like the fact that there a lot of resorts in Hawaii that will accept the SPG points for discounted rooms. Also, rather than only being able to use points to get a room, one can use $$$ and points to get good deals. In most cases, the cash and points offers the best value if you don’t have several thousand points to use. SPG has a wide variety of hotels including the really nice St. Regis Princeville Resort in Kauai, Westin hotels, and Sheraton hotels. Good value properties are the Moana Surfrider and Princess Kaiulani. The Hilton HHonors is also a good card if you don’t want to pay an annual fee, but the points aren’t worth as much.

For more information, visit the FlyerTalk thread at:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starwood-preferred-guest/1100740-spg-amex-30000-starpoints-1000-spending.html

Good analysis on the value of 30,000 SPG points:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/07/01/enroll-by-july-6-for-starwood-american-express-30000-points/

On FlyerTalk, there was an excellent post with a comprehensive listing of good credit card promotions for travel/airline miles. American Express HHonors and American Express SPG seems to have the best deal at the moment.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/973934-consolidated-best-rewards-credit-card-discussion-hugely-comprehensive.html

The author’s blog features lots of travel promotions as well. Really good info about the travel industry
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/