Sergio - My point is that if you are actually able to book that flight to Hawaii for 30,000 points, you got a great deal because you're right that at 1.25 cents per mile, that would be fantastic. I have found (at least with NWA) that unless I booked it during a full moon immediately after midnight 12 months in advance, I couldn't get the flight. For NWA, that means doubling their 35,000 rate to 70,000 to get the "rulebuster" award. That works out to $875, which seems like a reasonable break-even point to me.

This is before taking into account the additional costs that I pasted earlier from PGARY's website. If you account for the opportunity cost of miles you could have earned and subtract any transaction fees from your savings, the breakeven for 70,000 is more like $950.

If other airlines are more generous in how available they make their seats and/or have lower point costs to book flights, then it definitely makes sense to evaluate your points differently on those airlines. If you cna regularly book flights NYC to Hawaii for 30,000 points, then those points are worth more, and I'd like to start flying that airline. If it's hard to get those seats, though, then I'd evaluate the points at 1.25 cents and be very excited about the deal I got if I went to Hawaii fo 30,000 points in the same manner that I would be excited if I got a $300 fare.