Originally Posted by Efrem
Not to derail this too far, there are many threads on this subject, but this reflects confusion between what an award tickets would cost and what miles are worth. It is, and this gives one example, easy to find ways to redeem miles which offer "values" approaching 10¢ per mile - if you calculate "value" by dividing the cost of a ticket into the miles needed for an award. However, unless you would (absent an award) have paid that much of your own money for the ticket, which is hardly ever the case, the true value of the miles is far less. In this example, ask what fare would leave you on the fence between purchasing it and redeemding miles for the award. That will give you the real value of the miles you used.
I've seen this argument here many times, but I must confess that I don't really understand it. If I'm unwilling to pay $1M for a Ferrari Enzo, that doesn't mean that the car is worth less than $1M if there are enough other people who
are willing to pay that much for it.
What does make sense to me is that a saver award ticket is worth somewhat less than a discount (e.g., Z class) revenue ticket because it is (more) capacity controlled and doesn't earn miles. But I don't understand why it's worth much less than that. By the same measure, why isn't a standard award ticket worth somewhere between a discounted and full-fare revenue ticket -- regardless of whether I'd be willing to pay for the revenue ticket?
I should note that I am sadly under-educated on economic and finance matters. So I'm happy to learn from the better informed about how to value miles.