I tried doing a quick search on how much value is given to miles....I came across about 0.02 cents/mi?

Anyways, I got an itch to do PIT - PVG in late March/early April for my bd and to visit some good friends who are moving from there. 99% of my travels is through NWA, so I'm trying to stick with them.

Tonights search I found a 60,000mile or $900 ticket at about the time I want to go...and for about the right length of time too (and surprisingly it was on NWA.com). So that's about 0.015/mi. Currently I'm Silver and have about 480k miles.

It's a tough one....60,000 doesn't seem much and $900 less I can live without for a nice trip (and some partying). That's going to be the bulk of my expenses, hotel is not needed.

Just like to hear some opinions....pro's/con's because I may need to make a decision soon while they are available.

Xie xie

How would I decide...are those miles going to make it or break it for requalifying for elite status this year? If not, then do the award (you have enough miles to spare). If so, then you might as well spend the money on an actual trip rather than a MR later on.

Thanks for the input. Gave some more thought and will probable go with the 60k miles because:

-I'm Gold now, so it's a good chance to cash in on a PerkSaver.
-NWA doesnt fly to Australia, which I'm planning to goto in Dec, therefore I will be paying for that trip.

If I didn't need the EQM, I'd redeem, especially since NW has no realistic way to redeem miles for an upgrade on that route. (I know you're looking at coach, but that's just how I would be thinking of alternative uses for the miles.)

I usually weigh what I would normally get a ticket for and how many miles they want for the award ticket. At .015 per mile, it looks like you stretched out your award milage even further. I'd use the miles, you could chalk it up as a "reward" trip, have a blast and still have plenty of miles left.

Right, and with the quite large balance of the OP... it's worth remembering the rule to use them or lose them (e.g., to devaluation, ...).

When deciding whether to use miles or cash, I take into account net loss of miles, that is by using the 60,000 mileage award for PIT-PVG, you're giving up approx 15,000 miles you would've earned by paying the $900 fare. Thus, $900/75000= 1.2 cents/mile. In my own case, it would've been even lower at 1 c/m as I get a double point bonus for being AA platinum. I generally like to get at at least 1.5 c/m for those hard earned miles. cheers.

My page on Value of Miles on my website below should be useful.