Originally Posted by
sdsearch
If I'm using value per point to determine whether miles are better than cashback (for longhaul business class travel), it's important to know what the actual cost of the product is, not just what I would pay, isn't it?
Nope. Not to me. I don't care what somebody else would pay for it. Because
I know I would never pay real money for what those flights cost. The fact that somebody with more money than sense would pay for the gold-plated toilet flight doesn't matter to me one bit. Who cares what somebody else would do? I wouldn't do that!
It's not like I have to go (or go in that nice longhaul lay flat J seat). The trips I take are entirely discretionary. The fact that I have a bunch of miles/points and I know how to use them certainly does allow me the luxury of taking nice trips. On very nice longhaul J seats (I'm not complaining!). But if I didn't have the miles (or didn't know how to use them) I would either tough it out back in coach - or I just wouldn't go.
Yes, I take more trips now because I have more good options. If I didn't have those options, I wouldn't travel as much. But you (literally) can't put a price on the experience. Hey, I've had great experiences going places that I probably wouldn't have gone to without using miles & points. "Priceless" experiences, actually. That doesn't mean the value of the points used to get there is infinite.
Ascribing a specific value to the seat is a lie that bloggers tell their suckers to get clicks and referrals.