How do you come up with 75k US miles for 40k SPG points?

From reading the T&C of “Nights and Flights”, I come up with 60k Starpoints gets you 50k airline miles + 5 nights in a Cat 3, while “Nights and Flights II” 70k Starpoints gets you 50k airline miles + 5 nights in a Cat 4.
*ptshttp://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/redeem/nights_flights.html

I don’t follow your math here.

An important point to note is that the “nights and flights” option allows for this same bonus (75,000 US miles for 40,000 SPG points) while also discounting a 5-night stay all the way down to 20,000 for Category 3 and 30,000 for Category 4 (better than the 28K and 40K you get when redeeming the 5th night free alone).

When u say “generous routing rules”, any example? like a stopover is permitted even within same region?

@ Alex — That’s the million dollar question. If it were me, I would transfer enough for two business class tickets to somewhere I want to go, assuming I’m not able to book yet. You might also want to consider getting a USAir credit card if you don’t have one already for the sign-up bonus. It’s easy enough to get a few more points should you want to do first, so that’s probably the safest bet.

@ bk3day — Yeah, it’s certainly interesting that they don’t have a separate value for those domestic three cabin flights. I’m guessing you’ll see a price drop for an itin like JFK-SEA, though, so it might not be worth transferring just for that.

hmmmm…i never realized that the cost is the same for first or biz.

sad to admit right now, i’m holding a UA biz award JFK-SFO-SEA.

so, i guess i could do the SPG xfer and fly ps F for the same 50K hit.

while i’m still hoping that fares will drop and the award won’t be needed, that’s an interesting option to consider.

btw, i’m here at the LAX RCC and your name is still on the message sheet as are a slew of other FTers

So here’s my question – I have 72k USAir miles and around 160k Starpoints – what’s the sweet spot for transfer? I was thinking 40k Starpoints, which would give me 75k USair miles, leaving me at 147k USAir miles.

This leaves me just short of the 160k I need for two business class tickets to Europe, but I am accruing USAir miles regularly and/or could buy the remaining 13k for $300 (if I used the current bonus buy).

Alternately I can transfer 60k for 112,500 and get to 200k USAir miles which leaves me a bit of a cushion and doesn’t cost me anything. Either case still leaves me over 100k Starpoints which I’ll use for the hotels wherever we go (and which I’m also accruing relatively quickly).

Is there any reason I want to transfer either more or less miles?

The USAir redemption level is lower than UA if you’re flying * Alliance.
That reason along caused my son to transfer all, yes, I said all his Starpoints to USAir. He’s willing to sacrifice all his points for flying upfront in business class.

After much studying on this issue, I’m pondering a point transfer. The only thing holding me back is not having the points to use for European properties. That’s where you get good value for your points (anywhere between 4 and 8 cents). It’s something to think about.

FYI, if the point conversion doesn’t make it by the deadline, you’re out of luck.
Words to that effect appear on the website. If you’re going to act, do it sooner rather than later.

@ Ken — Yes, I believe so. The 5,000 mile bonus is automatic, so really should work with this promotion.