Originally Posted by
javabytes
PWM might make it cost less miles than an award ticket, especially when there's a sale, but still doesn't mean you're getting a good redemption rate. Why not pay the cash fare and hold on to the miles for another ticket where you can get a better redemption rate?
Two thoughts about that comment:
1. Skymiles redemption rates seem to be constantly increasing. So I like PWM as a way to offset high mileage requirements for a free ticket.
2. I don't like to let my Skymiles pile up and not use them. I keep a "buffer" of miles in case I need them but I like being able to use PWM to use them when I want to take my SO and family on a trip.
I am careful to make sure that the trip I'm booking with PWM will be an itinerary that the ticket holder can commit to since there's no refund or redeposit. My preference is to do an award ticket first and then use PWM if the terms of the award ticket aren't reasonable.