Originally Posted by
moondog
In the most recent thread on AA miles valuation, there are many opinions, but 1.5 CPM is a number that most seem to able to accept (i e. if there was a marketplace, bids and asks would converge near that number).
If you accept this premise, any card that provides more than $0.015 per dollar is better than Barclays or Citi for everyday spending ($0.02 cash back is pretty easy to snag).... unless the status boost is important.
Agree with this analysis and the 1.5 cpp valuation on AA. OP I can give you an idea of how I think about this -
For AA miles, I get a lot more value on certain long-haul J redemptions as well as last-minute domestic economy bookings if saver space opens up, but in general it's around 1.5 cpp, e.g. summer and winter travel. Note that in my calculations, I tend to measure cpp as price I'd pay (including alternative airlines, even the likes of Frontier and Spirit if no bags) divided by the points redeemed. Others use the AA fare divided by the points redeemed and so the 1.5 may fluctuate.
For Avios, I exclusively use them on two things - long haul J on Qatar because I like the product and convenience for my parents and last-minute domestic bookings when AA miles are dynamically priced (avios are distance based and fixed). These two give me greater than 1.5 cpp in value but only up to a certain point and becomes useless beyond that.