Originally Posted by
intuition
True, last minute is hillariously expensive. Perhaps the trick is to buy a flexible ticket and move it to a delayed departure in order to qualify for EU261.
But my point wasn't to make money, it was to fly cheaper. With a decent price and 600€ back, your status card could come more cheaply. But getting the compensations might be more difficult than booking the delayed flight.
Compared with a J offer or a Value ticket this still sounds like a very bad deal for the points. Even 600€ per direction would not make that reasonable.