I'll try some kind of similar calculations on my next long-haul-flight (if I don't fall asleep right-away). ok?

I will let you in to a secret...

We buy BA AirMiles at work and give them as Motivation/Incentive Awards.

They cost us 9 pence (sterling) per mile.

[Sorry US Exec Club members, but I have to use UK AirMiles here]

A UK to US return (East Coast) destination is 2,900 miles (economy); 5,800 (business/club); 8,700 (First); 27,200 (concorde).

Therefore, by buying AirMiles:

Economy = � 261 (US$ 430)
Business Club = � 522 (US$ 861)
First = � 783 (US$ 1291)
Concorde = � 2,448 (US$4039)


WOW!

I pay over � 3500 for an economy and over � 5000 for a first!!
MF

Merry ~ I think the programs here in the US have a limit on the number of miles you can get from a single source per year, I know for Delta it's 25,000 miles, and I would think it's the same for other airlines here to. Does BA not have such a limit?

I have concluded that BlondeBomber and megamiles have too much time on their hands but I do thank them for doing those calculations - very interesting. Here are my tips for using miles:

1. If you have to go somewhere "spur of the moment" and it is the off-season. I have called up and used miles within 7 days notice. If I had purchased a ticket, I would have been charged a fortune because there was not a 7 day advance.

2. I use them after I have gained an elite status with that airline for the year. That way, I am not ruining my chances of gaining elite status by using miles instead of earning them.

3. Never use miles if you get a killer deal such as an e-fare. Those cheap, last minute deals are the most economical way to earn miles.

I've been thinking (always a dangerous proposition) about valuing FF miles. A number of people, sparked by BlondeBomber's post, have calculated the cost per mile for their travels. Although very interesting, this does not address criteria for actually redeeming an award (i.e, at what ticket price should one consider claiming an award instead). Since most of my miles are collected at my employer's expense, the real cost to me for the miles approaches $0. However, once I have the miles they have value to me and I am faced with the choice of whether to redeem or not everytime I purchase (out of my own pocket) a ticket. Using the standard yardstick of a mile being worth 2 cents, this would suggest that for domestic travel (normally 25,000 miles), that any ticket costing over $500 should be claimed using an award. But is the threshold really lower? The average domestic fare on a coach ticket is around $445 (not $500). MerryFlyer's calculations reveal miles can be purchased to yield a ticket cost of $430. The real issues that I see that argue for a lower mileage valuation are (in no particular order):
1. Expiring miles
2. Blackout dates
3. Capacity controls
4. Lead time (tied into to capacity controls to some extent)
The fact that many routes require one to claim awards far in advance of the travel dates (when discounted fares are available)leads me to believe that an award ticket (25,000 miles - domestic) should be valued at no more than the price of the lowest discounted fare.

To some extent, valuing award tickets is somewhat similar to valuing stock options, particularly in the case of expiring miles. (Maybe someone who is familiar with the Black-Scholes option pricing model can apply similar concepts to valuing miles. Crazy perhaps but an intriguing thought).

Why did I raise this issue? Well, I have to make plans to travel in April. The lowest fare I can get right now is about $300. Do I claim an award?

I am not an analytical....don't think so hard about these miles. If ya got them...spend them! What are you keeping them for....the vacation of a lifetime?? All I know is that if I use my miles, I don't use my cash. For me, it's a no brainer!

I think some of the previous posts were spot on (e.g. Megamiles, Catman and Diver) with respect to the types of travel you should use the awards on (i.e. last minute bookings or business or first class awards or upgrades); and always make sure you are not foregoing elite status by using awards instead of cheap paid travel.

For my travels, as Super Elite I have no blackout dates (on Air Canada planes), no capacity controls (unless flight is oversold) and no expiring miles, so for me these are the priorities in descending order(with my calculated value ratio of actual cost to purchase the ticket divided by number of miles for the award [email protected]/mile)--the higher the number the better:

last minute Economy Class N. America (up to 4.3:1)
N. American Business Class (3:1)
last minute South America Economy Class/Business Class Pacific Asia (2.9:1)
last minute Australia Economy or European/South America Business Class (2.5:1)
Australia Economy (advance purchase )/Business Class to Africa (1.7:1)
advance purchase Pacific Asia/South America Economy Class (1.0-1.3:1)

I know I have too much time on my hands and I should be out there flying! . . . but it is a useful exercise to show where you get the best value for your points and allows one to be more strategic.

Everyone's situation is different. 10 years ago, any award looked good to me as it meant saving money. Now I'm more picky and want to get value and comfort!

[This message has been edited by BlondeBomber (edited 02-13-99).]

Oh and by the way, with Air Canada's promotion starting off the first 3 months of 1999, it is costing me just over 1 cent US per mile (4 cents US per status mile). How often do you get to earn 95,000 miles for $1000 US! I said it before, it can't last (or can it?).

[This message has been edited by BlondeBomber (edited 02-13-99).]

I just did a calculation for 1998 and it works out to around 2c/mile (about 5.7c/status mile). I value miles at 1.6c/mile, so many trips I make are "free". This year will be lots worse, I think -- CO cut the threshold bonuses, I'll be flying on partner airlines a lot more, more short-haul flights

I don't use miles except for last-minute things (literally, "next-flight-out" situations: family emergencies, spontaneous trips) They are worth their weight in gold for emergencies.

I certainly respect the divergent views on using miles! While I certainly don't want to overanalyze award travel, I agree with BlondeBomber that one needs to be strategic in their use of miles. To your post, traveltoomuch, I could conclude that maybe one shouldn't think too much about spending money! Miles are an endless fountain only as long as you continue travelling regularly. I can't imagine sustaining my current travel pace in 10-15 years. So the saved miles will come in handy when I want to take future trips.

A number of people have mentioned use of miles for last minute travel. I agree - this is an excellent (and probably best) use of miles. The only problem is the lead time issue I mentioned. I have trouble getting award tickets even a few months in advance, let alone a few weeks. (And I'm not talking about flying to exotic locales like Hawaii. I mean your basic domestic trips. The $300 trip I mentioned earlier, now looks like it will be purchased. Useless Air has no award availability to/from Jacksonville from any of the DC area airports two months from now unless I want a 6:30 AM flight on a Saturday and a return after 8:30PM on a Sunday. Even leaving on Friday night doesn't help.) BlondeBomber and diver, how successful are you in getting award tickets with less than a month to go? What airline and destinations were these short notice award trips to? If you were faced with a situation similar to mine, do you hold off buying the ticket (non-refundable) and hope that the flights you really want don't fill up and they make more award seats available closer to departure? (Of course then you run the risk of not getting an award seat and paying full fare). Ugh!

I have travelled mostly in Canada (Calgary-Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal/Vancouver) and U.S. (Calgary-Denver/ Albuquerque/ Miami/ Baltimore/ San Francisco/ Phoenix) on short notice tickets, mainly on Air Canada but also on UA. Internationally I have flown on UA (Australia) and Lufthansa (South Africa) on reward travel.

But remember, they cannot refuse me if there is an empty seat (i.e. flight not oversold) on Air Canada planes for any date! I always check on EasySabre first to see how full the flight is. Without status, it would have been a problem even a year in advance going Business Class to South Africa over Christmas. First they balked and said there was only 1 reward seat (1 year in advance) in business class. When I reminded them of my status, they came back with 3 seats Calgary-Capetown no problem.

It is the main reason I value my status on Air Canada, I have had no problems getting reward travel unless the flight is oversold and that has only happened once -- even then they were able to find an alternate flight that was OK. I have redeemed over 1.25 million miles on Air Canada for myself, family, friends and some charitable groups I work with and have always been successful getting flights on the days I wanted.

It does seem to be more difficult to get on UA flights (judging from my Aeroplan friends' experience) and even my Air Canada status wouldn't help me there.

[This message has been edited by BlondeBomber (edited 02-13-99).]

The one other place miles may be useful is if you have to attend a non-business function midweek and cannot stay over a weekend and qualify for Saturday night stay cheap fares.

OK, BlondeBomber you have it pretty good with no capacity controls! That is unusual even for the top statuses in most of the US airline FF programs. And it does present a very different situation when attempting to value miles. Maybe some of the other FFs can comment on their experience in claiming short notice awards on the US domestic carriers, with and without status.

A few years ago, I was able to get an award ticket BOS-Jackson Hole in February two days before flight time for a rush fee os $75. There were no problems -- and at the time I was a non-elite.

I have found that the cost of personal travel is inexpesive. I have never paid more than $450 for a domestic flight for a personal flight. At that point, I would rather pay for a ticket, earn the miles (+ bonuses) and use miles to upgrade.

For example, my girlfrien and I will be travelling to Zurich for vacation (and to say hi to Rudi) in March. My $445 ticket earns me 30,000+ miles (10,000 from NY, 10,000 elite bonus, 10,000 other bonus). At 2 cents a mile, I have earned $600 worth of value by paying $445 -- not a bad return on my investment. Of course, I am using my miles to upgrade. So net, I am paying $445 + 10,000 miles (40,000 award - 30,000 earned). So for a business class ticket, I am paying $645 for a business class ticket. Again -- I am not complaining.

Everyone values their miles differently. For me, I value them in upgrades. (Personally, I am waiting for American's pilot situation to end since you *know* they will be offering enticements to bring people back - hello double or triple miles! 14,000 miles planned (excluding Zurich) between today and March 8. 14,000 actual, 14,000 elite, 14,000 bonus -- no complaint here)

--Jim

Another good place to use reward travel: out of the way places that don't have much competition on the routes. Travelling to Arctic Canada can be prohibitive. E.g. it costs $1000 US ($2400 full economy fare) for the cheapest airfare from Calgary to Iqaluit on Baffin Island. At discount fares you would only earn 2400 miles round trip so it is a far better use of resources to get a free ticket by using an award.