Its true that most conversions from hotel programs to airline miles are bad deals because of the terrible conversion rates. I almost never convert my hotel points this way because of the loss in value. The few exceptions are, of course, where the conversion will lead to more mile (e.g., the current AA promotion that requires 20 partners and a conversion counts as a partner transaction). However, Starwood points convert 1-to-1 to airline miles in most FF programs. Just one more reason Starwood is my favorite hotel frequent guest program.