Originally Posted by
dankyone
Miles are valuable all right...125,000 of them can routinely be exchanged for an F ticket LAX-LHR even if only AAnytime J awards are available (granted, you may well have to connect at ORD but this will give you over 10 cents per mile of value)
Value is a relative thing, based on each person's position on the demand curve. Using my own money -- given the early stage of my career and my student loans -- I'd probably pay only a small premium for an F ticket (impossible, I know), not $12,500.
Still, I agree that 125K miles for an F ticket would provide a satisfactory level of value per mile... maybe 3-4 cents given my willingness to buy the ticket with cash. Definitely higher than 1.5 cents per mile (which is my threshold). Economics holds that value is a very individual thing... which is why I am otherwise frustrated with the lack of value in my miles.