The Most Valuable Mile
 

What airline/hotel mile do you consider to be most valuable?

1. One bmi diamond club mile

USA to Europe, First Class, any *Alliance airline, 50,000 miles plus @$700
Worth $3500 to me, or $0.056 per mile

2. One SPG point

USA to London, Upper Class, Virgin Atlantic, 65,000 SPG points = 80,000 VS FlyingClub miles
Worth $2500 to me, or $0.038 per mile

3. One AsiaMile

USA to Europe, First Class, any OneWorld airline, 90,000 miles
Worth $3000 to me, or $0.033
(worth less due to max. one-way distance of 5000 miles)

4. One United MileagePlus mile

USA to Australia, First Class, United Airlines, 120,000 miles
Worth $3500 to me, or $0.029 per mile

To make this fair, you need to pick a "point currency" that is roughly equivalent to one mile of flying or one mile per credit card dollar spend. You should also not judge value based upon "full retail price" and instead consider value to be the savings based upon what you would be willing to spend in cash for the same trip. For example, heavily restricted first class roundtrip to Europe is worth $3500 to me, not $14,000 for the unrestricted, full-fare first class.

1 SPG - 3,000pts to get a room that I'd pay about $100 for, so a little over 3 cents a point.

1 FF mile - 50k to get a last-minute domestic award that I'd have to pay about a grand for - 2 cents. (It's hard to find a market where there is no decent last-minute alternative for over a grand. WN is pushing this towards $650 or so in many major markets.)

Alternatives: 80k to get a J seat that I'd maybe pay $1500 for...again, 2 cents.

One Asia Mile

USA to Europe, BA Business Class roundtrip upgrade, 22.5K miles + $600 WT+ ticket
Worth $1200 to me, or $0.0375 cents per mile
(worth less due to max. one-way distance of 5000 miles;
but value per miles should be higher to others who would pay more than $1200 for a restricted BA business class roundtrip)

Ofcourse, SPG are transferable to AsiaMiles so they have an even higher value (transfer bonus).

And 25K BA miles can do the same upgrade...so they are also a good value for BA transatlantic.

The last mile needed for an award with/to see that special someone - priceless.

The last mile which gets you to an elite level.

Actually, when I first read the thread title, my first thought was "Mile 27 of a marathon." One-fifth running and four-fifths Heineken time. ^ :D

1. One NW WP mile

NRT-BKK (or other inter-Asia) First/Business Class, NW or MH 30,000 miles
Worth $1500-2500 (off-peak-peak) to me, or $0.05-0.083 per mile

frontier 15k to alaska

amex mr points that get a companion to europe for 30k

and any point that prevents an expiring account from expiring.

yes.....and this year, the last minute unexpected miles that got me there a month prior to my plan!!

and, if you are platinum starwood, you will still get your 500 point amenity. so, net-net, it's only 2,500 points for the $100 room.