One of the common questions I get is how do you rack up enough miles and points to travel as much as you do. Besides traveling, earning points and miles through credit card spend, and paying attention to the latest promotions, knowing the little tricks like what I’ll share in this post is what helps keep a healthy balance in my point and mile loyalty accounts.

 Using LANPASS Or Starpoints To Book Award Flights With Partner Airlines

In this post, we’ll share how you can redeem as little as 3,200 Starpoints for a short haul one-way flight, or as few as 8,000 Starpoints on American Airlines or another one of LAN’s partner airlines. In a previous post we shared how you could use British Airways Avios points for short haul and long haul awards.

Key Links:

• LANPASS Visa Signature® Card – 20,000 points after first card use
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express – Up to 25,000 Starpoints after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months. Terms and Restrictions Apply.
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express – Up to 25,000 Starpoints after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months. Terms and Restrictions Apply.

The key to saving points is to know the sweet spots, and LAN has one of those sweet spots with short haul partner flights.

LANPASS KMS For Flights On Partners (including American Airlines)

The LANPASS award chart is distance based. This means the less kilometers you fly the less miles it will require to book a ticket.

Distance And KMS Required:

• 1 to 500 kms = 6,000 kms in coach
• 1 to 500 kms = 15,000 kms in First
• 501 to 750 kms = 8,000 kms in coach
• 501 to 750 kms = 20,000 kms in First
• 751 to 1,000 kms = 9,000 kms in coach
• 751 to 1,000 kms = 22,000 kms in First
• 1,001 to 1,300 kms = 10,000 kms in coach

This is all good, but what if I don’t want to fly LAN? You can book on any of the OneWorld alliance members and other partners as well.

The LANPASS Visa Signature® Card currently offers 20,000 miles after the first card use and has a $0 annual fee the first year ($75 after the first year).

Use Even Less Points By Transferring From SPG

We’ve detailed the steps on how to transfer Starpoints into one ~30 airlines, including LAN. We’ve transferred points into US Airways from Starwood and the miles posted within 24 hours.

Since the Starpoints transfer into LAN at a 1:1.5 rate, plus, when you transfer 20,000 points, you get a 5,000 bonus, this vastly reduced the amount of points required to book the same tickets.

Frequent Flyer Program || Exchange Ratio (Starpoints : Miles)

• Aeromexico – 1:1
• Aeroplan/Air Canada – 1:1
• Air Berlin – 1:1
• Air China Companion – 1:1
• Air New Zealand & Air Points – 65:1
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan – 1:1
• Alitalia MilleMiglia – 1:1
• All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club – 1:1
• American Airlines AAdvantage – 1:1
• Asia Miles – 1:1
• Asiana Airlines – 1:1
• British Airways Executive Club – 1:1
• China Eastern Airlines – 1:1
• China Southern Airlines’ Sky Pearl Club – 1:1
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles – 1:1
• Emirates Skywards – 1:1
• Etihad Airways – 1:1
• Flying Blue – 1:1
• Gol Smiles – 2:1
• Hawaiian Airlines – 1:1
• Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank – 1:1
• LAN Airlines LANPASS Kms – 1:1.5
• Miles and More – 1:1
• Qatar Airways – 1:1
• Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan – 1:1
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer – 1:1
• Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus – 1:1
• US Airways Dividend Miles – 1:1
• United Mileage Plus – 2:1
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – 1:1

See below for the points required for a LAN partner flight assuming you transfer 20,000 starpoints at a time.

Distance And Starpoints Required*:

• 1 to 500 kms = 3,200 Starpoints in coach
• 1 to 500 kms = 8,000 Starpoints in First
• 501 to 750 kms = 4,267 Starpoints in coach
• 501 to 750 kms = 10,667 Starpoints in First
• 751 to 1,000 kms = 4,800 Starpoints in coach
• 751 to 1,000 kms = 11,733 Starpoints in First
• 1,001 to 1,300 kms = 5,333 Starpoints in coach

*Assumes all points were transferred as part of a 20,000 Starpoint to LAN transfer which results in a 5,000 bonus. Prices are noted for one-way flight.

So as you can see, using your Starpoints for short haul flights on LAN’s partners makes a lot of sense. You can get coach and First Class flights for a fraction of the points.

Some Good Uses

There are some great uses of this trick for flights like:

New York To Chicago: 1,180 kms (LGA) and 1,191 kms (JFK)

• 1,001 to 1,300 kms = 5,333 Starpoints in coach

Miami to Turks & Caicos: 931 kms

• 751 to 1,000 kms = 4,800 Starpoints in coach
• 751 to 1,000 kms = 11,733 Starpoints in First

New York (LGA) to Montreal: 522 kms

• 501 to 750 kms = 4,267 Starpoints in coach
• 501 to 750 kms = 10,667 Starpoints in First

What other good uses to you see for LAN miles? You can check distances over at Great Circle Mapper through this link here.

Bottom Line

Using LAN miles to fly on OneWorld Alliance member partners is a great way to maximize points. Even you don’t fly LAN on a regular basis, there are several ways to get a sizeable balance of points. First, you can pick up 20,000 miles with the LAN credit card. Second, you can transfer SPG Starpoints at a 1:1.5 ratio into LAN miles.

I like to keep a healthy balance of LAN miles because of the ability to book cheap short haul flights. If you don’t have any LAN miles, consider the LANPASS Visa Signature® Card which comes with 20,000 miles after the first card use and has a $0 annual fee the first year ($75 after the first year). Or consider transferring points to LAN quickly from your Starpoints balance. If you don’t have any Starpoints consider the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, plus each of the cards comes with a healthy signup bonus offer to start you off with a nice point balance in the program.

Key Links:

• LANPASS Visa Signature® Card – 20 points after first card use
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express – Up to 25,000 Starpoints after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months. Terms and Restrictions Apply.
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express – Up to 25,000 Starpoints after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months. Terms and Restrictions Apply.

Related Posts

• Starwood Nights & Flights Plus Airline Transfer Award Redemption Option
• How Long Does It Take To Transfer Points From SPG To US Airways
• Starwood Nights & Flights Plus Airline Transfer Award Redemption Option
• Starwood’s Cash + Points Option Plus Hotel Award Chart
• How To Transfer American Express Membership Rewards To Travel Programs
• How To Link Travel Programs To American Express Membership Rewards Program
• AMAZING US Airways First Class Availability…If You Are Afraid Of Flying Alone
• American Airlines Transcontinental Flat-Bed First Class For Only ~$940 With US Airways 100% Bonus On Purchased Miles

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