Originally Posted by
cepheid
With regards to the value of 15K RDM... I don't know if I'd value them at $.01, $.03, or some other value, but I can say that I much prefer to spend my miles on award travel rather than upgrades. I pay for travel, but I don't pay for upgrades, so spending my miles on travel saves me real money, while spending my miles on upgrades would get me a better experience but save me nothing (and, next year, would cost me $50 each time). I'm willing to forego the extra niceties of F if it means not having to pay for my next trip.
I agree. The bottom line is, I don't value domestic F over Y all that much. Even on a five-hour flight, I read a book, take out my pillow, buy a drink or two with one of my many coupons, and doze off. I save my miles for international premium-class travel on Star Alliance partners that I would never be able to take otherwise. These are trips where, unlike any domestic flying, the air travel experience is part of the vacation.
For the OP, of course it's reasonable if you think that 15,000 is a good deal for an upgrade. Nothing wrong with that; it just depends on your personal preferences.
Originally Posted by
unavaca
Does the value proposition of the 15k upgrade change if you were flying p.s. and upgrading from Y to C?
Of course. The difference between C and Y on p.s. is significantly better than the difference between F and Y on other domestic flights. The same could be said for domestic segments on international-configuration widebody aircraft.
That said, I still would rarely, if ever, use miles for such an upgrade.