MarkOK

I value miles at less than 1 cent per mile. I look to redeem typically 1 month to 11 months in advance, on domestic flights in Y

1. Of the numerous trips over the last few years where I have wanted to burn miles, I have yet to come across any value much above 1 cent per mile on a pure (current cash price)/(miles needed to redeem as an award) basis. I have seen this as low as 0.5 cents per mile, and as high as 1.2 cents per mile, but it is uncanny how often it is between 0.9-1.1 cents per mile. With web special, mile saaver, aanytime, anytime 2, and anytime 3 levels of redemption, domestic coach award pricing tracks cash pricing pretty dang tightly.

2. The real value though is less than the current cash price/miles needed to redeem calculation. On award tickets, I can't get upgrades, and the award tickets that can be gotten for web special or mile saaver rates are pretty much always the routes/times that I actually have a likelihood of upgrading. And of course, award tickets don't count towards EQM, EQDs, or EQSs or Million mileage status ---- This really hurts when it comes to being able to start looking at longer haul flights where mileage redemptions look more valuable -- if I do redeem an award for a long haul, it likely means I will fail to reach a given level of status for next year as a result.