Originally Posted by toomanybooks;18566673This constant mantra in spots on FT and on some blogs, that there is [U
only one way[/U] to run your miles/points habit (aspirational, F travel, 4-5 star hotels in the South Pacific/Paris) and that anyone who thinks differently is deluded, is quite irritating sometimes.
I'll kind of agree here, because you have the right idea - even if I don't necessarily agree.
I could care less about the aspirational side of this stuff, since those valuations are always inflated, and half of the C seats out there really aren't worth that much.
I do think that some redemptions present a poor value, because I am very good at tracking flights and booking them when the price is right. I refuse to pay over $600 for a RT US-Eur ticket, and haven't done so for some time. When I couldn't get it under $600, I booked a 60k DL ticket since those miles were sitting around. I found the same KL/AF combo I booked for $450 and ended up cancelling that ticket.
For the consultants out there who work way too hard to travel, I guess it's not always a win-win situation.
What I think is the most valuable benefit of award flights is the flexibility involved with routings - like the free *A stopovers I routinely use. These are usually unaffordable, even in Y, so they make for an great value. I wish bloggers for once would talk about the importance of AVAILABILITY, instead of churn,churn,churn.