For the non-elite passenger like myself (or maybe it doesn't matter), is the value of an Aeroplan point worth about 1.5 cents? I got it from the following link, dated late last year so hopefully somewhat current. If the value of the point is wrong, please correct it and all calculations below can be adjusted accordingly.

The reason I'm asking is that all my travel related purchases go on my Amex gold card, meaning I get double points, and Amex has a 1:1 conversion to Aeroplan. Sometimes they have bonus transfers like they did before this past summer began.

So the issue now becomes, if I find two flights, where one is Air Canada/Star Alliance but more expensive vs. a non-Star Alliance route but cheaper, which is worth it in the long run?

As an example, I recently flew to Europe, via Star Alliance (YYZ-FRA-AMS, AMS-ATH-JMK, and then JMK-ATH-YYZ), for a total of 10,180, not including the summer bonuses or double points from Aegean airlines. With bonuses, I got about 12,805. At 1.5 cents, this means 10,180 = $152.70 or 12,805 = $192.08, the dollars "banked".

Obviously, booking a more expensive trip not on Star Alliance is not good from a points-earning perspective. Booking a flight at least $192.08 cheaper on non Star Alliance is better, because the savings make up for the points lost. I'm guessing that buying alternate alliance between 152 and 192 would still tilt towards keeping to the Star Alliance.

Any thoughts on this?