sbm12

Check out Scott McCartney's latest post on awards in his Middle Seat column. It is just awful. There are some pathetic nuggets like this one:
Oh, and his "analysis" of award availability depends only on the carrier websites and doesn't bother with partner availability. So he ignores two of the best ways to get value from points in a post titled: Getting the Most Out of Your Frequent Flier Miles.

Ouch.

CodeAdam10

For years I didn't understand airline miles. I thought they were out of my reach and only reserved for 6-figures-a-month credit card spenders. It was because of stuff like this. He just pushed away thousands of people from ever attempting to collect / redeem miles, all based on his incomplete research on a subject he clearly does not (fully) understand.

w0r1dtrave1er

It's a decent article for the general public, many people who read his article do not read flyertalk.

<snobbish rant>
Here at flyertalk we have a collection of enthusiasts and experts. Similar to the trick-it thread, if "everyone" knew how to get more value from their points it could lower the overall value across the board. I, for one, enjoy getting more value for my points than Joe Six-Pack.
</snobbish rant>

One last thing on the article, he recommends only using miles for international business class. That's good advice (...that I wish he'd keep to himself)

AlohaDaveKennedy

Shhhh - more money left on the table for the rest of us to grab!

Stubtify

I'm fine with people not getting spoonfed what to do. Less competition for those seats!

abcx

Exactly.

sbm12

Except it isn't. It misrepresents core facts associated with the programs and the point valuations.
That part is good advice, though it is buried in the midst of crap.

ETA:

There is a significant difference between not being spoon-fed all the details and being lied to about how the programs work. I think that this column veers dramatically towards the latter category.

LowFlyOver

I really only fly to a few specific locations on miles, and I never have gotten less than 1.5 cpm on domestic bookings. Perhaps it is different if one has easy access to hubs, but even my flight from ORD-SNA using Avios will exceed 1.5 cpm. MLI always has been 1.5 cpm or better. When I fly out of CID, it's usually closer to 2 cpm for domestic coach. The only exception was when I used Capital One Venture "miles" to fly on Allegiant, as Capital One Venture "miles" always equal 1 cent when used to reimburse self-booked travel.

In terms of full disclosure, though, I've never redeemed SkyPesos for anything, nor Southwest Rapid Rewards for anything other than gift cards, so my experience with those airlines' programs is limited. My experiences booking with miles mainly have been with BA, AA, UA, and Continental.

Jesperss

Why is it when Citi is valuing the AA miles at 2.5 cents for 1099's everyone is crying how they're really worth .5 cent or less.

Yet when a writer says they're worth 1.0 cents each everyone is saying he's a nut job?

Ritz

OMG, that guy is hilarious (or maybe certifiable, lol) take your pic. Either way, more on the table for us - regardless of his "dis"information.

LowFlyOver

DELETED

jcmitchell21

There is a difference in redemption value and acquisition value. Most people can easily acquire miles at 1-1.5 cents/mile. But FTers commonly redeem them for 4+cents/mile.

It's nonsense getting 1099's from Citi saying they are "income" at 2.5 cents/mile when most people can acquire them for much less.

youreadyfreddie

You say that as if it were a bad thing . . .

I've noticed a few poorly researched articles on air travel that don't seem to be written by people who know much about the subject on sites such as msnbc.com and cnn.com in the past few weeks. They seem to pop up in clusters.

Andy2

A half dozen posters claiming to have obtained a value exceeding 1.0 cents per mile is not "everyone". I continue to believe that the FMV of a mile is quite low and that the WSJ article cited in this thread is very reasonable. The FMV of a mile is the value at which it will be redeemed in the future. The past is not indicative of the future. Miles are being devalued at an alarming rate. The huge bonus mile offers for new credit card accounts likely indicates that airlines and hotels are selling the miles to wholesalers at a low price, at the same time these airlines and hotels are increasing the redemption levels, either directly by raising minimum thresholds or indirectly by not releasing "saver" seats.

AlohaDaveKennedy

Ya mean I dun got it all wrong flying economy to Europe for 30k round trip on that little ol' Charlotte airline? No wonder it was only half full and all us kettles was forced to sleep horizontal across the empty middle row seats. Now ya tell me - so how many miles should I have burned to see Europe in business class? Do they provide newspapers up there? Coulda used 'em as our chickens and pigs kinda left the economy cabin a mess. And we never did find where the cow ran off to.

One last thing on the article, he recommends only using miles for international business class. That's good advice (...that I wish he'd keep to himself)

That part is good advice, though it is buried in the midst of crap.