Originally Posted by
jsloan
if you value MileagePlus miles at $0.015 each, and that’s probably an overestimate, then 30 PlusPoints are worth about $800 or so depending upon the route. And you get less value if you’d otherwise be flying in Y and therefore using more PlusPoints per trip. Not coincidentally, $800 is also approximately the amount that gets reported for Polaris upgrades on lightly-loaded flights.
You raise a good point. But I think the appropriate comparator is the purchase value of the miles, because I don’t think I earn enough miles per annum to support every upgrade with miles over +P. Plus, as 1K I earn miles AND +P so there is an opportunity cost to miles supported upgrades.
i don’t know what CPM for purchased miles is, but a quick google suggests $0.036. That puts it close to my original calc.
on SFO-MNL, I have seen PZ>0 and Y-J still in excess of $2500 for cash upgrade, and I have been checking multiple tickets daily. The change flight cost is about the same.