MilesBuzz! - ATL-JNB Nov 2012 Miles or purchase ticket?

I'm traveling with a friend as part of a larger group meeting up in S. Africa so my dates and airline (DL) are not flexible as I want to travel along with her/them.

Tentatively we are departing 11/13/12 returning 11/23/12. I will be flying in Y whether I use points or purchase. Ticket is $1428 (Y). Award ticket 150K +$86.20 (Y).

I have $300 in DL vouchers that expire about a yr from now that I probably wouldn't use anytime soon. Won't put a dent in the purchase price but helps a bit and I could get rid of the vouchers. Purchasing a ticket wouldn't be a problem if this isn't the smartest redemption which I'm thinking it's probably not? I have 100K Amex points & over 50K *wood that I could transfer but I don't know. I'm leaning more towards buying the ticket outright.

Any thoughts/advice?

if the ticket was $1500.00, the 150,000 mi are 1 cent per mi....not considered a good deal....

however, dl mi seem to be hard to use....

Yes, DL is not good for redeeming award tickets it seems.
That's why I think I might keep my Amex & *wood points where theyr'e at for now.

How many DL Miles do you have?

How much cash do you have?

That's the way I would figure it out.. but I don't plan on paying for tickets again so its all miles for me. They may be redeeming here at 1cent a point, but if you earned them the easy way rather than the hard way then thats good enough for me!

Oh and definitely would not transfer *wood to DL- that is a massive devaluation.

Pay cash if you have it and if you have a better use for the miles. If you don't have any better way to redeem the miles or if you're cash strapped, use the miles. Only you will know the best answer for yourself.

Paying for the flights would also get you almost 17k EQM on Delta, not peanuts if you're trying to make/maintain status...

I have only 11K DL miles. 100K amex points. I have enough cash to purchase the ticket but a miles redemption would have been sweet. I agree that the *wood trsfr would be a bad move.

I can use the 100K amex points in the future when I have another int'l trip. Thanks for all the advice I think I will go ahead and buy the ticket and use this as opportunity to bump up my DL miles/status a bit.

I have only 11K DL miles. 100K amex points. I have enough cash to purchase the ticket but a miles redemption would have been sweet. I agree that the *wood trsfr would be a bad move.

I can use the 100K amex points in the future when I have another int'l trip. Thanks for all the advice I think I will go ahead and buy the ticket and use this as opportunity to bump up my DL miles/status a bit.

I think in this case, with the lack of actual miles with DL its not smart to transfer, I would certainly use up that voucher and pay money.

Better options for MR transfers are into BA for domestic and South American trips on Partners AA and LAN. And also transfers to Virgin and then into Hilton for 1MR = 2 HH.

^^^ thanks for the advice! Very good points.
I hadn't thought about the Virgin - HH MR transfer. That's another good option to keep in my mind for the future.