One of the best uses for Starwood Preferred Guest points for members wanting to travel to South America was to convert them into LAN Airlines LANPASS at a 1:2 ratio. For every one Starwood point transferred, members would receive two LANPASS kilometers. SPG recently changed the transfer ratio to a 1:1.5 ratio. For example, instead of being able to redeem 20,000 points (plus the 5,000 point bonus) for a 48,000 LANPASS roundtrip flight in coach to Brazil, members will now need to redeem 27,000 points to receive 48,000 LANPASS kilometers.

Bottom line: Starwood Preferred Guest changed the transfer ratio without giving advance notice to members. Members who transfer their points into LANPASS now receive 25 percent fewer points, and for those who were planning on redeeming their points with LAN at the old ratio, this is an unwelcome surprise.