Originally Posted by
dcAA
All your points are valid, but I think a trip to India isn't the best illustration.
I don't think a planned trip in Y is a particularly good redemption value unless you are traveling on an expensive route with little competition. The miles are most valuable when used for a last minute trip, or for a trip in business/first (depending on how much you would pay for such a ticket).
My last redemption involved purchasing same day tickets for a trip that I had to take that would have cost, round trip, $1,400 from DCA, or $850 from the much less convenient BWI. With milesAAver availability out of DCA, it was an easy decision.
I understand my India example is not the best use and I wouldn't burn miles in that example.
F and C travel completely depend on how much you value those things. I have traveled in C a few times and have come to the conclusion that I am willing to spend between $10 and $15 per hour for C depending on the airline and route. At those prices it never makes much sense for me to redeem a J award.
I see the last minute value but just don't think its what it used to be. In 36 years I have had to buy a last minute ticket once and I did use miles. Though I have noticed from ORD at least generally even last minute fares are not that high. I have some miles stashed for such cases but really never need them.
The only reason I have been able to get much value at all from AA is because I have used the stopover trick to do hawaii-ORD and ORD-europe for 20K miles.