Originally Posted by brp
I was really thinking more aboutthe credit card miles. I really do view those as free (less the yearly fee, which is not substantial if one charges enough).
You're still buying them.
You're passing up guaranteed no-strings no-fee 1% rebate cards. There are also dozens (hundreds?) of other rewards cards and strings-attached (but potentially >1%) rebate cards. You could get into all sorts of opportunity-cost comparisons vs. other popular programs like SPG.
But for this purpose, keep it simple: you're basically buying 'em 1 cent per mile and $50 per year because that's the current level of rebate for the no-strings-no-minimum-cashback-on-your-next-statement-no-annual-fee card. Is that a good value? Yes - it's great for many FT'ers. But AA is redrawing the line significantly with their program changes.