I use them exclusively for family travel - mostly int'l. Class of service depends.

Just Mrs. bna and I used 200K TWA miles to fly 1st class to Cairo in 1999.

Used 250K Delta miles for Mrs bna, myself and three kids to fly (coach) to Paris in 2000.

Oldest son and I burned 160K Delta miles for two J seats to London this March.

Wife, myself and 4 kids(see Barcelona above for 4th child explanation)used 300K Delta miles (coach)for just completed trip to Italy earlier this month.

Add a couple of domestic F tix ( Sea & SFO) in last couple of years and I have burned 1 million miles since 1999.

Have never used miles for upgrades.

Howdy!

Good thread. Like many of the other posters, I have mostly used miles for trips which can not be obtained for a below reasonable fare.

Recently, I have been inclined to seek out upgrade opportunities. Here is an example:

2-5-03
CO 828 SFO-IAH Coach
CO 1086 IAH-ORD Coach

2-8-03
CO 1087 ORD-IAH Coach
CO 401 IAH-SFO Coach

Thanks to other posters earlier this year,
I paid a total of $223.50 for the above
itinerary. Because there is no SA night stay, CO is now quoting the same itinerary
at $2,200.00!!

Here is the twist. I spent 10,000 miles to upgrade the MCO-IAH-SFO return legs to first class. The trip itself will earn close to seven thousand (7,000) miles with on-line purchase bonus and eService Center check-in.

I will have a net reduction of 3,000 miles along with the cost of my ticket. CO just quoted me $2,948.00 for the itinerary with the upgrade. This seems to be a very good value for my miles.

Thoughts?

I use my miles mostly for my fiance to accompany me on trips; we pay for my fare and split the cost of that ticket and I accumulate more miles and Elite status. (He doesn't fly enough on business to have a shot at Elite status).

Unfortunately, as other people have observed, CO is pretty stingy on Reward travel, especially to Europe. We were able to use points to upgrade only once, and that was on a trip to Scotland on 9/28 (i.e., when many people were too paranoid to fly) and even then we got F/C only on the trip home. We're flying to Milan in October and I had to fork over 100,000 miles for an "EasyPass" ticket. When we went to Vienna last year I booked the full 11 months ahead (forget the exact timing but it was as early as possible) and still couldn't get the codeshare out of EWR that would have given me miles towards Elite- had to take Air France out of JFK instead.

In general, I use points domestically only when a last-minute or otherwise expensive airfare is the alternative. Also used most of my remaining USAir miles to get my son to a family gathering in CLT in April- figured those miles could disappear if I don't use them.

Have used hotel points solely in Europe. Aah. Budapest Marriott. Best freebie I ever had.

It is exciting to be able to get a $17,000 first class ticket for free with miles. But then I ask myself how much I would have been willing to actually pay for that first class. Maybe $100 more than coach, max. So I need to rethink the value I put on first class awards. I don't need a big seat, I can sleep anywhere with earplugs and eyecovers. I forget about my surroundings while I'm reading. I can eat like a king before and after I land. It's far more valuable to me to get 10 free coach trips than 5 or less first class trips.

I am eager to maintain my platinum level to get double miles on each trip. So what I have been doing is using miles for travelling companions to far away places, while I join them with bargain fares and earn elite miles to keep my status. The friends I travel with know many people where I go, and speak the language. Worth it many times over, I get so much more out of the trip. This October I am doing this again, costing me 80,000 miles to get two friends from California to Moscow on AA/Finnair. Actually I might use miles for myself if I don't find a cheaper fare soon. Hard call to make.

I have also used miles when fares are seriously beyond what I would pay, and creative use of stopovers have made using miles even more compelling.

Ok I admit it I still dream of going first class one day, but it would have to be on Cathay Pacific, British Airways (no interest in concorde though), or maybe the suites on American. Some really long distance trip.

Benoit, you bring up something I've been mulling over lately and that is were the miles I used in first class upgrades really worth it.

Now that my biz travel is down and I'm not accumulating the way I once was I wish I had a few hundred thousand more miles in the bank.

OTOH I took my Mrs. LaGuardiaguy on UA IAD-MXP in first for our honeymoon and it was the most memorable flight we ever had.

I couldn't regret flying first class for a honeymoon if I tried. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

1. Upgrades for Mr. and Mrs. 0524
2. Free tickets for sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren

I agree with benoit and laguardiaguy. Haven't been flying as much last year and this year as previously, so it's nice to still have several hundred thousand miles (on Delta, US and AA-not even counting our remaining LatinPass miles) in the bank which I did not blow on upgrades available for use for free tickets for upcoming family vacations. Sure, the upgrades would have made me more comfortable on those business trips, but I'd rather have the vacation with the family.

Djlawman

OT for LisaH: I've never heard of Hilton not allowing two adults and two children on this award. I've used this award many times for three - two adults, one child - and never a problem. Four adults they might have an issue with.