<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by satori:
If I chose to upgrade with miles, then $1500 for one paid ticket in H class = 12,500 status miles, 25,000 miles earned, 40,000 miles burned (on the old charts from past two years; 60,000 miles now). One C class trip to Europe and negative mileage balance, and 1/3 of the status miles.
Let's say I could get H class fare for $750 (wishful thinking), then $1,500 = 2 tickets in H class, 25,000 status miles, 50,000 base miles and 80,000 miles burned (again using the old charts, 120,000 miles now). I have a negative balance of 30,000 miles, and less status miles.
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For a completely fair comparison why are you not including the use of SWU's, which most airlines allocate to their highest tier FF's. On DL, for example, you would receive 6 upgrades saving you 90 to 120,000 miles per year. Anything above that you are out of pocket.
I only fly overseas 3 - 4 times a year but I have not spent 1 mile on intn'l upgrades in the last 7 years, and have had to sit in the back only twice, both due to last minute schedule/routing changes.