2015 Flight and Hotel Redemptions
Finally, my 2015 recreational travel schedule is pretty much set. These are all trips I want(ed) to take, I did not try to "maximize point value" as they say, but I did book business class internationally whenever possible.
The redemptions are for a mix of domestic and international flights, some in Y, some in C, none in F this year. Mileage programs involved are DL, AA, and BA, hotel programs are Hyatt, Hilton, IHG and Radisson.
When I posted a similar summary last year it spawned a big debate about the correct meaning of "value". Hoping to avoid a similar debate I am going to use the term "dollar cost equivalent" (DCE), defined as the price on the day the award was booked.
Total miles redeemed 750K; Total fares DCE $23,000; Blended DCE/mile $0.031. Total hotel points redeemed 163K; Total hotel DCE $ 1660; Blended DCE/point $0.011. Average DCE/mile(point) with AA $0.034 (int'l only); DL $0.022 (domestic + int'l); BA $0.033 (int'l only); Hyatt $0.044; Hilton $0.006; IHG $0.006, Radisson 0.008. The Hyatt value is not a typo, it reflects a reservation for graduation weekend when prices are jacked up sky high yet require the standard number of points.
A few observations from this year's exercise: One, without the DCE skew of international first class redemptions the blended DCE/mile is a more reasonable/credible $0.03 vs almost $0.07 last year. Two, miles (even skypesos) still command a much higher DCE than hotel points, so I will continue to concentrate my spending on mileage cards over hotel cards. And three, there is still a lot of (almost) free travel fun to be had in this game.