Originally Posted by
mahasamatman
The point is the revenue ticket. Book a one-way award and a one-way revenue ticket, and you'll be paying more cash than if you booked a round-trip revenue ticket, plus you're out the points. I just don't believe that giving up lots of points for the privilege of paying more money makes sense, though some may disagree.
In general I agree, but it's not always the case. It takes some time, but you can look around for special fares as well. I was able to book what I think was a really good deal last week. 70,000 miles for NH first class to NRT connecting to TG first class to BKK. I then bought a one-way return from SGN in business class on NH for $1300. It's pretty cheap to get to SGN from BKK. It just so happened that NH is having a promotion for flights departing Vietnam to the US (round-trip in business is $2600-$2800), looks like it lasts until the end of March. A round-trip economy ticket would cost about $1100, so I think I made out pretty well. Though it would probably be a little early to find any special fares right now for the summer.
I fully admit this could be a one-off thing though and I got really lucky (especially getting NH in F).