Originally Posted by
learningtime
Happy, how would you analyze this when there is a current promotion like the US Airways bonus miles on purchase? I know you have researched this and would like to get your thoughts. Say west coast to india in business on BA using the 2 for 1. 160K miles plus around $2K in taxes (I guess). Compare this to being able to purchase around 250K star alliance miles for $3500 (approx). I pay around $1500 more than what I would pay to use BA miles, 2 people still travel in J but I still have the BA 160K miles left to use on AA, CX J whatever. Is the real question whether $1500 is worth 160K BA miles?
Thoughts? If my numbers are way off, let me know.
Of course 160K BA miles worth more than $1500 when you can redeem in one-way tickets - meaning you can go on one-way on BA then return on one-way on AA, or UA/CO... all in J or even F. 75K on CX F to Asia from NA using BA miles for example.
If I am in need of miles I definitely would look at US Airways' various promotional offers first. Its program has the better mileage cost and routing allowance than the UA/CO for the Star A redemption. The major draw back is the $250 change fee while UA/CO is mostly free. Otherwise you get more bang for your mileage bucks when redeeming US Airways miles, not to mention that you often can obtain US miles at a cheaper cash cost than other programs. The 100% bonus offer, the holiday promo, etc all let you obtain miles with a reasonable cash outlay when you redeem it in J or F to Asia and Africa.