Originally Posted by
AJNEDC
I have 36,000 AA miles accumulated over a decade. Just me for the trip to Japan. My trip would be in the middle of September. Perhaps the fares I am seeing now for September 2024 will reduce to a more reasonable price points. I have noticed that Western chain hotel prices are also ridiculously priced so I am opting for a Japanese or other Asian brand.
Oh sorry I thought you said March. Fall is a nice time to visit... less crowded.
36k is really not very many miles. I guess you don't travel that much. Given that, I would not buy miles unless you had an award on hold that you were ready to pay for. You don't know when you will be able to use them if there are no awards for your trip.
If I were in your shoes, I would always check for awards when planning to fly domestically, and compare to the cost of buying a ticket. I would use the miles when you can get a value of 2 or more cents per mile (this is pretty common with domestic awards, especially in economy). Most of my domestic flights are awards now because the redemption value is so good. As an added bonus, all rewards are fully refundable tickets.