Originally Posted by
lhrsfo
Bloggers say that a mile is worth >1c but that's really only the case for premium cabin redemptions.
An award ticket includes bags if that's important, and comes with the ability to cancel altogether (although there's a fee), whereas a cash ticket is merely changeable, if that makes any difference.
first, I’ve seen plenty of UA domestic awards that are greater than .01 in Y.
secondly, the fee to ‘cancel’ an award is not exactly true. The fee is to redeposit mileage, not to cancel. And only applies within 30 days of departure - 31 days or more out and there is no fee. If you don’t want to redeposit, you can absolutely cancel, leave the mileage in the PNR and rebook another award leaving by 12/31/23.
Originally Posted by
jsloan
I wouldn't make that redemption either, but if you're constrained on cash vs. the number of miles you have, it's perfectly fine. We shouldn't live our lives based upon trying to optimize constantly even to our short-term detriment.
this. I wouldn’t make that redemption either, but who am I to say what is valuable for someone else. Cents/mile is a guide for some, but for others, using mileage to make a trip they don’t have cash for may be more valuable than comparing how many cents they get out of that mile.
There may be another situation where I’d use the mileage at what others might call subpar value. I’ve done hefty redemptions last minute, for example, when I didn’t want to pay the exhorbinant, basically walk up fare.