Originally Posted by
CPRich
In the absence of devaluation, that is true. However, how many airlines still have one flat 20,000 mile redemption level for domestic? Or even the 25,000 they all raised it to several years ago. I used to travel on those all the time. Now I can travel for 25K if I want to go to Peoria, on a Tuesday, in June. Want to fly somewhere that I actually want to vacation? 50,000 90% of the time. Or 35K, or 45K - everyone has 2, 3, or more tiers where there used to be one. I would call that explicit devaluation, along with the "co-pay" upgrade amounts, "award ticketing fees", etc., etc. I believe the actual cost to redeem an award has gone up significantly in the last 3 years, at least on the airlines I use.
Key words.
I just ticketed a one-way off peak Europe to North America award CDG-MIA-LAX-LIH, with MIA being a long stopover (home airport) for a measly 20K AA miles. ^ Would have redeemed a J seat but it is not available for my preferred date(s). I can tough out a western Europe to East Coast trip in an exit row seat.
I too, like the idea of having at least 250K in each program we participate... At this moment, one program has significantly more, like 5 times more, one program is still lacking quite a bit, while 2 other programs are smack dab in that range. I am working on the lacking program diligently this year.
