Reward or Buy?
 

Hi, I am in need of some advice.

In March I need to go to NYC for a long weekend (from ZRH). I am a SEN. I would ideally like to have the return flight (NYC-ZRH) in C as I am going directly to work. I dont really care about the outbound as it is a day flight (and I can get an emergency exit seat - they're still available).

In your opinion, should I:

- Buy an economy class ticket (Cheap Y on outbound, Mid-priced Y on outbound to allow for upgrade) for 870 CHF and upgrade return with miles (50,000 miles).

- Get a Business Class reward (105,000 miles + 333 CHF in taxes).

I have enough miles (with the SEN overdraft) and have already re-qualified until 2015 (so don't really care about status miles).

Cheers!

I find the mileage upgrades in M&M to be outrageously poor value.

But I see two more alternatives:
A "mixed-class" award (outbound in Y, inbound in C) should net 85'000 miles.
Or use your SEN e-vouchers for the upgrade, if you have some left?

I prefer the options to buy a cheap Y ticket and to upgrade one segment. I am always trying to save miles for upgrades on very long flights (Europe to US west coast or SE Asia) though. ZRH-JFK is bearable in Y with an emergency exit row seat, but getting a few hours of sleep in C on the flight back is definitely nice.
Comparing the two options depends on how you value your miles vs. money:
option 1 costs you ~500 CHF more than the C-award, but you also earn ~10k award miles (with 100% earning+exec. bonus). So your net spending of miles is 'only' 40k, if you upgrade the return.
Also, if I am booking a C-award, I usually try to spend the 105k miles on a longer, more complicated trip to the US, rather than a 'simple' ZRH-JFK hop.