Originally Posted by Mountain Trader
I disagree. Paying more or less only changes your cost, not the value of what you acquired.
Look at it like this. You buy a house and pay $300,000. Now the house may be worth $200,000, $400,000 or $600,000. But the real value of the house is not changed by what you paid. It's based on what another informed buyer would pay. It's the same with miles.
You don't change the value of something by paying more or less for it. Its value is its value. All you do by paying more is you made a worse deal.
I think we're just going on different paths to the same concept. When I use the term improvement, I'm doing so from the perspective of someone who currently uses a 3% mileage card. Such a person might ask "would I improve my situation if I used the 1% non-mileage card?" To answer that question, that person would need to determine how much the miles are worth to him/her. If the miles are worth more than 2 cents per, this would be a detrimental move. If less than 2 cents, using the 1% card is an improvement. (Personally, I value the miles at about 1.5 cents, so using the 1% card would be a slight improvement for me).
I agree that this person would not change the value of the miles by paying more or less.