With so little good news in the frequent-flying business lately, press releases announcing new programs and services, or changes to existing ones, can bring a profound sense of loss ... of money and miles!

Nonetheless, when the folks at Starwood announced a new booking service, SPG Flights, we were optimistic. How would it hold up under scrutiny? Read on.

As long-time FCF subscribers know, the Amex Starwood Preferred Guest card has long been our favorite mileage credit card. It has far more airline partners (29) than any other card and offers the only everyday, every-airline transfer bonus of 25%. SPG has been the cornerstone of many seat awards and upgrades for savvy travelers over the years, and a spinoff of such a traveler-friendly service could have limitless potential.

The press release for SPG Flights touts lack of blackout dates (great!), the fact that members still earn miles when flights are booked through SPG (love it!), and flight booking through any airline, even those outside Starwood’s vast partner network (nearly smitten!).

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But as quickly as our spirits leapt, further analysis dashed our hopes, irredeemably. Here’s the bad news:

• To make the program universal, the award cost in Starpoints is based on published fares. In some cases, this can be far more than an airline loyalty program charges. A last-minute Business Class ticket to Europe, for instance, can easily cost $5,000, which translates into 395,000 Starpoints. A US Airways premium unrestricted award costs only 160,000 miles. A First Class ticket to Europe, at $10,000, comes to 775,000 Starpoints, but American only charges 250,000 miles for an unrestricted mileage award.
• It’s true that there are no blackout dates or airline capacity controls with SPG Flights, but high-demand flights can easily cost more than an airline’s unrestricted mileage award, even more than with Delta’s new three-tier service.
• Tickets are non-refundable and some can’t be changed, whereas airline programs let you change your award ticket or redeposit the miles (albeit with a fee). With SPG Flights you either use the ticket or lose it, along with the miles redeemed.
• The return on your points can be as low as 1¢ ($150 fare ÷ 15,000 points), whereas the return on a United Standard Award from San Francisco to Sydney, for example, is 7¢ ($16,778 ÷ 220,000 miles = about 7¢ based on our formula of Cost of Ticket ÷ Miles Used = Value of a Mile) and about 15¢ on a Saver Award.

Our advice: As before, use the Starwood Preferred Guest card to earn points and then transfer them into miles in an airline loyalty program.

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