interesting thread. I've been in the camp of the accused but didn't come right out (IIRC) and say savvy travelers don't use miles for Y award tickets.

I will say that I don't do this very often (have once or twice), preferring to use miles for upgrades to J on long haul international flights. Doesn't mean I'm more or less savvy but in private conversations I've been known to brag a little about getting higher value per mile while enjoying something I normally wouldn't have paid cash for.

Our child has tagged along on another family's trips when I wouldn't have wanted to see money spent this way (mine or theirs). I went along with the argument that the other dad flew a lot and it was his business if he wanted to cash in a bunch of miles so his kiddos could bring friends along. We then did likewise on a trip to Paris, trading in 240k for four tix. It wasn't a good exchange rate but using miles instead of cash made it less awkward to include someone from outside the family.

I can see where using miles earned on biz travel for Y domestic awards might be more valuable to someone, especially if they have no interest in leaving the continent or just don't mind flying coach when they do.

I'll also feel differently once I'm less concerned about requalifying each year, as lifetime PLT seems achievable for me (@2MM).

What works for you, other presumably savvy travelers, doesn't necessarily work for me and vv. I still think my AA miles are best spent on J upgrades or (long shot) getting out of Y en route to Australia (J/F award). I would actually buy miles through AA to get the latter if I was a few thousand short.

Guess the point of all this is I'm guilty of thinking along the lines of the OP's complaint, and will try not to disparage others who for reasons of their own choose to use their miles differently.

Thanks OP for bringing this up.