Originally Posted by
s0ssos
The reason I collect miles is to redeem on aspirational flights. Otherwise I could just collect cashback (or for hotels to splurge, instead of staying in a standard mid-range hotel using points on vacation). Because I wouldn't otherwise spend that money on a first-class flight or fancy hotel, but now I would cause it is just points and I'm getting great value!
Keep in mind your title of this thread seems overblown to me, but perhaps it's because "first class' is not a consistent term. What domestic two-class flights call "first class", all international two-class flights call "business class". (The same AA plane whose front cabin is called "first class" when it flies domestically has that cabin instantly renamed "business class" if the route it flies goes even just a few miles across the border into Canada, for example.)
So did you really mean that's there's no value in business class for miles, or was it just that you meant "up front" (whatever it's called on a given airline) by "first class"?
To many destinations overseas, there simply is no first class; business class is the highest class available. Many airlines are greatly reducing which international destinations they fly planes with both business class and "true" first class.
In other words, many people who save miles for "up front" agree that coach (especially domestic or short-haul international) is usually worth just paying cash for, and "up front" seats that are on a really good sale might be worth paying for in cash in some cases, but those "up front" seats (no matter what they're called) that aren't particularly "on sale" are what it's worth using miles for (especially if
not all your miles have to be earned just on 1x credit card spend).
I don't know if I fly "aspirational" flights or not. It's simply that (a) I'm tall and (b) I don't sleep well sitting up, so for flights I need to sleep on, I want at least angled lie-flat (I'm not prejudiced against angled). But I only need business class, not "true" first class for that. And I'd rather save my miles by only redeeming for business class. And in hotels, I don't need luxury. I don't want a fleabag hotel, but I'm not going to use 70000 points for a "fancy" hotel when a decent "ordinary" hotel in a decent location can be had for 20000 points. I'd rather stretch out my airline miles and my hotel points over more trips, than use more per each trip than really necessary.