Originally Posted by hobo13:18559695
As for her contribution on the domestic redemption side of the coin -- yes, there can be some value there. But her and other bloggers continued defense of 'everybody has different valuations on miles, and that's OK so don't judge me' is often just bad advice. Ignoring sign-up category bonuses, and assuming a typical card that earns 1 mile per dollar spent, you really need to be redeeming above 2cpm or else you would have been better to get the Fidelity card that offers 2% back.
You can't use a card that doesn't exist anymore in an argument. And i dont think any blogger is recommending a 1cpm card for everyday spending. But to play along, by your own reasoning its acceptable to net 50K miles from $50K spend then redeem for a $1500 F ticket, but horrible to net 25K miles from $25K spend then use it on a $375 Y ticket on the same exact flight. Its 3cpm vs 1.25cpm, but that 1.75cpm difference is BS for the majority of travelers (most FT'ers I'd guess). It's "aspirational" value, something that you can't afford without miles. High CPM is just a bragging/reference tool unless you would actually pay that out-of-pocket.
I see value in Int'l premium, getting my dad on AF J last minute for a funeral, for 100K SkyPesos. The flight "cost" $8000+, but a marginal benefit over ANZ Prem Economy for $2000, so real cpm was ~2cpm. For me/my dad.