Originally Posted by
FrancisA
It is indeed a reference point, but is it a good way to value avios?
The point of compensation is to return the passenger to the position that would have prevailed had the failing not happened. If 100% compensation were due for a cancellation, could a passenger buy a flexible F ticket to NYC for £538.33? A one way flexible ticket to NYC is £8,285 in two weeks' time. £360 of that are taxes etc so the base fare is £7,615. On that basis one avios has the purchasing power of 11p. However, if used for a sandwich, that comes down to 8p. Sandwiches are therefore not good value, but not exceptionally poor value either.
It's 0.8p per avios on a sandwich, vs. 0.67p on cars, hotels, and flights with no avios availability... 11p/avios certainly is possible on one-way flexible transatlantics but is far from the norm!