Before Mr. petal and I were married we were bicoastal (SFO - NYC) and we'd see one another almost every weekend. One weekend we weren't scheduled to travel and on a last minute whim I used miles for JFK-SFO PS First Class to spend 40 hours with him. Although looking back it wasn't a worst ever use of miles.
Programs: CO Plat Marriott Gold National Executive Amtrak Select Plus
Posts: 208
I was a good husband and offered my mother in law an award ticket BNA-LGA, thinking it would be 25K onepass miles. Turns out she didn't want to leave till sunday... so it became a 50K saver pass award (I think this would have been a $300 ticket) ....
Later she ended up paying a $150 change fee to stay the next weekend!
We all got burned on that one!
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2009 CO EQM 75,990 EUA 21/24 Companion 3/3
Dropped 17000 NW miles for a $100 Chilis gift card. Was stuck trying to obtain 8000 more Delta miles, which would've been a pain, so I used it through Worldperks before it went away. I don't even like Chilis that much!
I spent 37,500 for a ticket to Iowa last summer for a friend's wedding. Could have purchased it for about $350, but just didn't want to spend the cash.
I love to golf and I planned a summer golf vacation for a 10 year period starting in 2007. I like to play the best courses I can, but my dad is notoriously cheap. He would just as soon never play another course in his life, other than the one he works at part time, because it is free.
Well this summer is Bandon Dunes in Bandon, Oregon. Very nice but also very expensive. Thus to soften the blow on him and make it a little easier to not complain about the $ I used 100k UA miles for 2 tickets ORD-EUG for him and my brother. Cost would have been probably around $400 each.
I wouldn't say it was a terrible use of miles as it was a nice gesture, but certainly my worst value in terms of redemption.
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"Love ya don't tell ya enough" & God Bless
Current UA EQM's: 177,983 - UA upgrades Domestic 11/11, Inter. 4/4
my worst was spending 25k miles pp on ual tickets and then having to cancel, paying the $100 fee per person... only to rebook again and cancel again. $100 more pp...
This was $600 to not fly.
ahhh family life.
MM
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That’s Punny: A guy with miles to burn may well find a gal who wants to play with fire.
Programs: AA EXP, HH Preferential Gold, Starwood Gold
Posts: 116
I spent 180,000 miles for 2 RTs to India! Tickets were going for $1,000 or so before taxes. So 180K miles for about $2,000. I wanted to shoot myself for that since I usually try and get at least 2.5 cpm. But, my brother and I, both in our 20s, wanted to treat my parents to a family vacation. We bought 2 with cash, then realized we're out of it...haha. That's when I dipped into my miles stash.
My worst use of miles was arguably also my best use of miles.
It was certainly a trip I will always remember.
It was the time I used points to travel about 200 miles from Toronto to Ottawa for a wedding. We flew up in the afternoon, with our return booked for the last flight back in the evening. Two J class tickets. Now, that was a lot of points for just a short puddle hop - but hey, the airline was struggling back in those days and I figured better to use 'em than lose 'em, right?
I have no recollection of the flight to Ottawa. Or the wedding. Or the reception. Except that it ran late so we were cutting it tight getting back to the airport.
We quickly snagged our boarding passes without line-up, made it through security, and dashed to the gate only to find no one there except the agent.
As we approached the gate, she greeted us by name. She explained she wasn't psychic; just that the flight before ours was running late so they had already put everyone from our flight on the earlier one - which was gone!
Fear not, the agent explained. Our flight was still departing as scheduled. It's just that we would be the only passengers on it! Literally.
A few minutes later came the departure announcement, concluding with the words, "would Mr. and Mrs. Flews now please proceed to the gate?"
So we did. As we proceeded down the ramp to the plane, we were greeted by the entire crew of eight standing outside the door; the head purser dramatically unfolding a red table cloth for us to walk across.
In we went, into this caverous, empty airplane, where we were invited to seat ourselves "wherever you like". Hundreds of seats, a 2/3/2 configuration up front. So much for using the extra miles for J class!
Then came the really neat part.
My wife, half joking, asked whether sitting "wherever you like" included the cockpit. Let me ask the Captain, says the Purser. Who quickly returned with a grin and told us we were invited to sit in the cockpit for takeoff.
Now, I happen to have a fear of heights. Back then I wasn't really a big fan of flying. I ALWAYS avoid the window, even to this day, if I can. So I took a pass and ordered a double gin & tonic instead.
My wife went up front, and returned after about 10 minutes after take-off once we had leveled off. She raved about it, said it was truly an amazing experience. We enjoyed a quick meal (yes, short haul had meals in those days!). And we chatted with the crew, who confessed they had never encountered a completely empty flight like this before.
Soon the Captain came back on with the pre-landing announcement. He concluded by asking "would any Flews' like to join me in the cockpit for landing?"
This time, I couldn't resist. So we both went up and sat in the jumpseats behind the pilots.
It was truly an experience I will always treasure. For one thing, I will never forgot how quiet it was. The sky was crystal clear that night, and the City was sparkling below. We were amazed how small Pearson Airport seemed to be. The pilots even turned on the radio so we could hear their conversation with the tower - which rattled off a whole bunch of instructions.
At that point, probably for our benefit, the Captain asked the tower for some kind of confirmation or clarification of the numbers. And the tower replied with a laugh: "Oh, forget it - just follow that airbus in!"
So we did. For the smothest landing I ever had experienced. We even clapped when we touched down, to the grins of the pilots, who high fived themselves.
And that, my friends, is how my worst use of miles actually became my best use of miles.
15000 UA miles for upgrading a red eye SEA-SFO-EWR. SFO-EWR was a 319, I was a general member. SEA-SFO cleared, so the miles were gone. SFO-EWR had no chance of clearing but that's something I did not know at the time.
