Originally Posted by LTN Phobia

OK, I often say this, but let me say this again.

You need to look at the money saved, not the money spent.

E.g. instead of paying $10,000 for a flight in CW for two, it costs you $2,000 for a flight in CW for two plus the miles.

The value of the miles is in the amount saved. Bear in mind that the miles bookings can be cancelled without much penalty (if at all) and therefore it is akin to a flexible booking, which tends to cost a lot, so depending on your circumstance the money saved may be a very large amount.

For instance, I had just constructed a mixed F and J itinerary to Australia and back, with 3 stop-overs, that would probably have cost me about £6,000 (or possibly a lot more) if I had paid cash. However, using points and miles from various schemes I only paid approximately £1,000. Now, £1,000 may sound like a lot, but it saved me £5,000.

I have a lot more sympathy for the availability issues though, and I am sad to see that it's probably going to become worse if BA allows travel agent bookings to be MFUed.