Originally Posted by
dmarcus163
My question is the ultimate "Pay cash or Use points". I get confused on whether you should just pay for flights with Cash, Us Points, or Use Points via Citi Prestige/Chase Reserve to buy a ticket.
For example for the New Years holiday there is a round trip for $6oo from SFO to WAS. All the airlines are charging 50k round trip. So do you pay the cash,burn all the miles, or miles converted into cash?
It's always going to be a personal decision. 1.2cpm is a little lower than most FTers like to redeem, but that doesn't mean it's a bad choice for you.
As painful as it seems to pay $600 on a domestic flight, that's the reality these days for holiday travel on some routes, so I would probably bite the bullet and pay it. I'd evaluate the RDM/EQM benefits of flying paid...that could tip the decision one way or the other.
Other things I'd consider:
- It may be 50k for a Y award, but check and see if it's *also* 50k for an F award. I'm flying over New Year's on a peak cruise-departure route to the Caribbean. Cash prices = insane. Coach awards = 50k. F awards = 50k. No-brainer: I'm flying F. Given the raw number of seats out there from the Bay Area to WAS, you might score an F seat here.
- If you choose to buy, and you have the Thank You Points to redeem, then that seat is treated as a normal mileage-earning fare. Since the TYP "bonus" for redeeming AA ends in mid-2017, this might be a good place to spend your points. (Assuming AA was in the cheapest-fare ballpark.)
- You can also look at discounted-F fares. (I always do this when I see sky-high Y fares.) Sometimes you find something just slightly higher (say, $800), sometimes not. Only catch: the engine that books TYP tickets sometimes can't book AA discount F fares. YMMV.