My theory on biz travel is that it divides sharply between people who get way too much and those who get little to none. Airlines have done their de-vals just in time for Baby Boomers who were saving the miles to use in retirement to get quite a bit less than they thought they were going to get.

Though those of us who were with Continental in the early aughts can remember when they did an "award auction" with things like baseball tickets or travel experiences being put up for bid (with miles). Some reached insane levels.

I've probably earned about 3M miles lifetime and have spent 2.8M of those. Am just glad I spent the 2.8M when I did because they'd buy quite a bit less now.

The $1150 fare was offered by TAP on connections to its new LIS-SFO (lie flat) nonstop that starts this summer. Unfortunately I missed the boat (you snooze you lose!) and the fare is now +$200 but still available for most of the summer. From what I've seen you need to select a connecting flight (mine originates in Italy) or you'll pay +$100.

This fare deal was posted last month on Lucky's OMAAT blog and I think there was also a TAP thread in Premium Fare Deals forum. Sorry for the delay but the good news is that it is still there (albeit a bit higher).

Wow...that's pretty solid. ^

We're flying home from Europe this summer on TAP, originating in MAD, stopover in LIS for 3 nights. 5 of us including two kids so we just took the coach option. $340 one way with bags. (Going over there using Avios on EI.)

Sounds like TAP is trying to grow brand awareness and market share in the U.S. It's one of those airlines I've barely paid attention to until about a year ago. I've been warned that I'm probably going to fall in love with Lisbon and want to go back to Portugal again to see more of the country. So maybe not my last TAP flight...especially since they offer stopovers in any fare bucket they sell.

I usually use miles on either business class or first class redemption from US to South East Asia. I will never pay $5000+ for such trips!

I would rather fly economy on that and use my BA avios to redeem more short-haul O/W tickets.

I would rather buy 10 cheapo economy tickets on WN and use my miles and points to fly TATL in business class. YMMV

I would love to use Avios to redeem to Aer Lingus J, but I can never find it available. EI Y is pretty easy to find, so I just live with that for the 6 to 7 hour flight.

The fees to redeem Avios on the other TATL options are a deal-breaker for me. At that point, I'd just rather look for a good deal on a paid J fare.

If you book with miles you can cancel (at a much lower fare) or rebook for $150 - which might be a good benefit so fare out. Also look to use miles one-way and the return in cash. Sometimes that can be a better deal.

Concur about the heinous surcharges. Accordingly I would only use Avios to redeem for TATL C/F class in conjunction with a Chase 241 cert. I have not had much difficulty finding seats (even from West Coast) if reserved very far in advance of travel but it is hit or miss. Otherwise I think using Avios to book partner awards to South America avoids the surcharges, no?

I think my point is that I would not use for cheapo short flights in Europe on a regular basis but certainly would do so as an add-on or stopover to a TATL (on BA or otherwise). Alas it is at least 10 hours to the West Coast, so Y is no longer an option for me. :)