Originally Posted by MileKing
It's been years since I've valued a mile at 2 cents. My current valuation for miles is about 1.35 cents each. I don't "buy" miles any more unless I can get them for less than 1.0 cent each, and preferably less than 0.8 cents each. This pretty much eliminates mileage runs for me, and in fact I haven't taken a mileage run in about 2.5 years. I don't have anywhere near the statuses I used to carry, but so be it.....first class simply isn't what it used to be even 5 years ago.
Although international business and first class awards appear to offer more bang for the mile, I can't see myself increasing my mileage valuation for those as I simply do not and would not pay those fares. My yardstick for travel is coach fares with a small to moderate premium for business/first that is roughly equivalent to what it would cost to purchase domestic upgrades.
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Thanks for the links, Patron. You certainly raise a good point(s)!
And so does MileKing, and I'm inclined to agree.
Yet, FWIW, I still personally think that using 'em for UG's whenever possible is a best value!
And as I recall, one of the major impediments to the IRS plan to tax our miles was the extreemly wide range of airfares on any given airline(s) particular flight, and an inability to agree upon what, if any, price would be assigned for tax purposes to any ticket obtained utilizing award miles?
To each his/her own!
-Mark