Originally Posted by
sdsearch
Also, they do not price the miles/points based on how you (as an above-average-value redeemer, presumably) will redeem them. They price them based on how the truly average person (who's never read FlyerTalk and uses the miles/points without doing the math to see if it's a good value or not) uses them in the end.
That.
How do airline credit cards market the miles you will earn though their card? "Spend xxx dollars and get yyy miles! That's enough for a free trip anywhere in the US we fly!" Most people will jump on that to save $250 airfare.
Likewise, the average person will buy miles to top off so the entire family can fly for free.
Now we, on the other hand scheme and maximize the miles. Recently US allowed the gifting of miles and they would match. I "gave" my wife 50K miles and she now has, eer, had 100K miles. I just redeemed them for a CLT-MUC-ZRH-HKG-TPE-LAX-CLT flight in J. My cost was the original 50K miles and $700ish, including the transfer and taxes for the actual flights.
The average person, DW included, would not even consider doing this. She would use the miles to fly to Denver in Y.
