I have accumulated 80K miles from the milageplus explorer card sign-up bonus plus a few flights. From my understanding, the normal dollar worth per mile is about 1c/mile if I use them in the typical way of buying a ticket with miles, but I can get much better value if I use them in special promos or upgrades.
My typical travel pattern is 2 transatlantic round-trip travels per year, plus one or two domestic travels. I usually buy these tickets at basic economy rates to lower my dollar costs. I was hoping that I could use my miles for some nice upgrade (e.g. to premium economy or even business in a long-haul flight) but it seems that united does not permit upgrades with basic economy - it asks me to upgrade to standard economy first (and pay $150) before looking at any upgrade options.
Yes miles do not expire, but I would like to use them at some point - what do you think would be the best way of using my miles to get the best value out of them?