As posted in the discussion forum, Starwood announced a new SPG Flights program on September 4, 2008. With this program, you can now redeem Starpoints for miles. The announcement is below; a quick test drive shows that a west coast flight is going for 15,000+ miles. See snapshot below.






Starwood's announcement:

Starwood Preferred Guest introduce new SPG Flights program
Tuesday, 8:38 AM EDT
On behalf of Starwood Preferred Guest, I wanted to let you know about the new flights program we are introducing - SPG Flights- which takes SPG’s groundbreaking NO BLACKOUTS policy to new heights.

Launching today, the SPG Flights program lets members book flights on hundreds of airlines with NO BLACKOUT dates.

So how does it work? SPG members can simply go to http://www.spg.com/flights, search for and select their preferred flight and class of service, and redeem their Starpoints for the entire cost of the flight. Members can even earn airline miles when booking airfare through SPG Flights.

Starwood Preferred Guest members can earn two Starpoints for every eligible U.S. dollar spent at over 890 participating Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide. In addition, up to 20,000 Starpoints per calendar year can be purchased by going to http://www.spg.com and there is no Starpoints expiration date for active members. For more information visit http://www.spg.com/flights or call +353-21-4220696