Originally Posted by pinniped
Well, I didn't really mean that I pay a premium for air miles: I don't really have a choice but to "buy" the miles. I rarely if ever fly routes where a seamless, reliable process for booking flights without miles. I don't think I can get my frequent MCI-ORD tickets at 20% off by going through a bucket shop.
I guess I could do it on my MCI-LHR and MCI-CDG tickets, but what little research I've done there (and it's been a while since I've looked) hasn't yielded very attractive wholesale deals.
I will pay a premium for air miles. I have made a decision to concentrate all my air miles in one account (American, for its superior award availability). I use the miles as I earn them, to keep my balance below two years earnings. I value those miles at one cent per mile. Miles in other programs I value at zero, unless I am earning a lot of them, as I don't fly them often enough to be able to use them promptly, and miles devaluation has eroded my confidence in their value in ten years.
So, for example, for an upcoming trip to Japan, I will earn 30,000 miles on AA, vs. 15,000 on UA. In this case, I would value the miles on both carriers at one cent. I would pay up to $150 more for an AA ticket than a UA ticket, because I get more miles. Also, AA would win a tie, because if I fly them I will get lounge access, exit row seating, business/first checkin, and preboarding.
For a trip STL-MIA, I have a choice of AA or WN. This trip won't get me enough in WN's program to do anything with. An AA ticket will get me 6500 miles, and so I will pay up to $65 more for it. In addition, on AA I can book the DFW-MIA and MIA-DFW legs in the business-as-coach seats on the 777, so AA would win that tie. Since the ticket on AA will be about $140 all-in, it is pretty hard for WN to get my business for this flight.
So I am willing to pay more for tickets on AA than on other carriers, because of the benefits that AA's FFP gives me. Perhaps I'm being foolish, but it makes sense to me.