Very good analysis.
It seems that on my recent BOS to OAK booking for $200 OW, I may have made the wrong choice of using CompanyBlue (assuming using CompanyBlue negates the double TrueBlue points). This would work out to be a savings of $22 cash vs. potential True Blue credit worth $36-$48. Hmmm.
Can anyone speak to whether you lose the 2x TrueBlue credit for reservations booked through the CompanyBlue website?
If not, I'll be back in three weeks to update the thread after my flight.
Originally Posted by
dinosims
It really depends on how you redeem your points. If you redeem your points on mostly long-haul trips (averaging about $300-400 rt), each point would be valued at $3-4. Double points on a long-haul would be 12 extra points, or $36-48, on a medium-haul 8 extra points, or $24-32, and on a short-haul 4 extra points, or $8-12. For the 11% off to be a better deal, you'd need to be spending at least $327-$436 on a long-haul, at least $218-$291 on a medium haul, or at least $72-109 on a short haul.
If you're redeeming your points for a shorter trip (where the valuation of the points might only be $1.50-2.00/pt) the threshold for using the 11% off decreases, making it ever increasingly useful to use this discount over the 2x TB points.
Also, you have to remember to include your value of the flexibility of the extra cash in your pocket over the relatively unflexible TB award.