tohams

Due to the places I'll be flying (about 2 domestic roundtrips/month with 2 international roundtrips/year) and a recent credit card bonus, and the devaluation of SkyMiles, I'm switching to AAdvantage. I have just over 60,000 SkyMiles in my account right now. I have to go to NYC in November with my girlfriend and can get 2 roundtrips (other than SW, the only non-stop from where I live) still with 10,000 left in the account. I know it's not the best value (and pretty much orphans the 10k) on a < $250 domestic flight, but since I'm leaving the program, should I just use them before something else happens to them? Or is it worth saving them for a European roundtrip that may or may not happen in the next couple of years (and who knows what happens to the SkyMiles programs in that time)? I don't live in a hub city (for anyone), so other than program offerings, earning ability, and my job, I don't have a natural preference for a program.

Thoughts?

Thanks in anticipation!

avidflyer

You can get a 10k RT to some short hop destinations on the west coast and 10K one ways on just about all west coast short hops. LAX-SEA is one I think as well as LAX-SFO. If you are going to be on the west coast for work or play you could take a day trip. FWIW I also moved over to AA and bled down my DL miles to 15K and just left them. I have since bought a bunch of domestic FC tix on DL because they were so cheap and as a result I have built it back up a bit. Watch the expiration but there is no need to dump them...As long as you have status on one airline locked do what the airlines are pushing you to do...shop! Don't limit yourself to one AL/alliance unless you do not travel enough to spread it around even a litle.

jrl767

if OP has the Delta AmEx, using PWM toward G/A/P tix for the NYC trip could be an option

RealHJ

magsformiles.com is, IMO, the best use of such orphaned miles.

You can get a $127 subscription, such as The Economist, for 3200 miles.

That is 4cpm, which is a pretty good value and you'd be hard pressed to find a better redemption value in the current SlyMiles program, esp. given that we're almost at the FBATR (fare-based award travel redemption), that was first publicized several years ago as the ultimate goal of Delta's EOS (End of SkyMiles).