Originally Posted by
pinniped
AA is having a weird and unexpected value renaissance for me. We fly a lot of MCI-PHX, which has annoyingly high fares at certain times in the year, even outside of Feb-March (the highest peak period). Yet AA often has it for 7500 miles each way. It's a boring, unsexy use of miles...but it's about 3 real cents per mile in cash we would have otherwise spent. The 7500 miles books as a regular coach ticket, not a Basic Economy fare, which is added bonus if I'm booking it for other family members who have no elite status.
No idea how long this will hold true, but as long as it does it's where my AA miles are going. (BA has had it for 9000 miles at times but it 's less reliable than AA itself since partner awards are sometimes a little tighter.)
I tend to agree as I've used my AA miles ORF-NYC regularly over the last six or seven years, finding much more value out of this humble redemption than on international flights. I've recently noticed, however, that AA has cut the number of daily nonstops out of ORF to JFK, my preferred airport, from three to one, which will make it more difficult to redeem. Given that no one can predict what move AA will make next (hey, we're all about NYC, oh wait, no we're not; hey, we're all about LAX, oh wait, no we're not), I won't be piling up more miles.
Regarding hotels, I've found hotel points very useful over the years, but unlike a small subdivision of points groupies, I don't try to plan my vacations solely around destinations where I can use points. There are a lot of great places off the beaten path that I would have never seen if I had limited myself to areas that had Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Choice, and Hyatt properties.