Originally Posted by
IADCAflyer
Here's one take from my SO who read this thread but doesn't post:
Her choice is to use at least two of the rewards for points/miles. Her view is that a 30,000 mile reward is the same as two SWUs (when upgrading internationally and from PE). The 30,000 miles don't expire and you don't have the heartburn of throwing a fit when you lose one of your SWUs at the end of March. The flexibility of the 30,000 miles is key for her.
I agree with the premise and generally follow the same logic. But from an application standpoint, I seldom find people are buying full-fare economy tickets and upgrading at the 15k mile level. Rather, it will cost 25k miles + $350, so in theory if you can use SWUs without the heartburn, it's a much better value prop, where you neither need the co-pay and would technically get an additional upgrade instrument (2 SWUs vs 30k miles). One additional benefit of the SWU is you can use it on BA, where mileage upgrades require a similar full fare ticket.
With that said, if you're swimming in miles, don't have as much flexibility or don't want the burden of burning SWUs each year, I agree, miles are the way to go. Plus, miles can be used for flights, which skips the entire need for upgrades when you can find saver at the 57.5k mileage rate.