Totally agree with everything above ... I also do not go out of my way to pick up Avios unless the net cost is around 0.5p, because I cannot be sure of getting more than 0.75p of value for them.

The only time I pay more than 0.5p is when there is really no work involved ... such as BA offering me Part Miles Part Cash where the net cost is 0.75/0.8p, or when I pay tax on my '2 miles per £1' BMI Mastercard for a 1.4% fee and thus pay 0.7p per mile.

Although this debate is becoming a bit pointless for me, because we will be over 2m Avios after the BMI conversion and the Lloyds Amex is put to bed, and at that level I'm not sure that any price is worth paying for more!