cfischer

There are plenty of options. Just need to be creative. The below is in business on all segments.

VegasGambler

Well I'm booked on PHX-DAD // DAD-BKK // BKK-PHX with every segment in business class on various airlines in January for 120k miles + ~$100 in fees; I'm pretty happy with that. Admittedly that appears to have been a mistake special sale on UA's part.

If you value flying in premium cabins on long hauls, and you actually want to fly long hauls occasionally, then your best value is premium cabin partner awards. This is pretty much true on every US carrier.

If you are ok with economy then miles are worth less to you. This isn't terrible but it's also not great. You can do better. But if you are currently miles rich and cash poor due to temporary cash flow issues, and you want/need to make this trip, it's not THAT bad. Cash flow issues are generally going to force suboptimal decisions; in the grand scheme of things this is a minor one.

The bottom line here is that 120k miles just isn't that much. I wouldn't sweat this one too much. Open a CC or two when the cash flow situation improves and you will have miles again.

cricketer

The outbound (for 2) was 323 days out, and the return (also for 2) was 265 days out. The real miracle is that 200-250 days later, the dates we grabbed turned out to work perfectly, and the flights still exist as booked, with just a 5 minute schedule change on one. I would have bet a lot against that.

emcampbe

Whether miles are a good use are always going to be in the eyes of the beholder. There’s a lot of people who swear by the x cents per mile system. I use that as a base in many cases, but not as a be all end all. There are others who might be inflexible and need to book peak flights and don’t have the cash to spend.

if the ‘x cents per mile’ System works for you, then by all means, use it. For me, I’m not like the bloggers who might brag about getting 10 cents per mile on a last minute F ticket on LH, ignoring the fact They’d never spend the five figure cash fare they would have had to pay. If you’re after a truly premium experience, then that’s all good, just don’t try to tell me you got some amazing value based on a dollar amount you’d never pay. Conversely, if you don’t have the cash for a fare for a vacation you need, maybe you can rise above the need for some specific ‘value’ and just splurge with the miles.

Another thing to potentially think about is leveraging other points programs to help. There are times when I’ve used Chase UR to ‘split’ the cost of the flights we wanted to make it reasonable. 1.5 cents/point isn’t exactly the greatest value of points programs (though admittedly not the worst either). So I’ve used those points via the portal to partially pay for flights and pay the rest in cash. It’s also often a decent way to not pay top fare on peak flights, while also earning the PQP for those costs. So perhaps if you have UR available, you can split the difference this way. Just an idea to consider. There are also programs on UAs co-branded cards where you can use ‘Choice’ points (miles earned on the card) to get a statement credit for airfare booked on UA. Admittedly, the value isn’t as good (.01/mile, IIRC), but may be helpful.

divB

Yes, I've look at everything that's close (and/or where I would have friends/family).
Unfortunately late Aug is too late for return. I saw that prices start dropping mid of Aug
I have to be there July 22 and then ideally staying 2-3 weeks (ideally ~ Aug 5).

Really? Can you show me how?
TWO persons Europe RR Polaris 120k?
If this is the case, I'd really rather purchase on $$ now and the miles for this.

Mid-late Aug is unfortunately too late. I need to be there July 22 and then I'd stay for 2-3 more weeks (ideally return Aug ~5).
I tried both with my profile (Silver) and my spouse (Gold + MileagePlus Explorer CC) but didn't see any differences in choices. Generally, can I expect to see better things in my spouses?

You mean if I book round trip US<-->Europe then one free flight within Europe is included? Is this general or what are the conditions? Sounds too good to be true.
Do you have a reference for this?

Wow, how do you find something like this?
Something like this would be amazing and I'd immediately save my miles then.

I think that's part of the issue: While I really enjoy flying business (I only did twice so far) it is more worth for me getting multiple trips in Economy instead. It's like I'd rather to have 3 trips to great destinations in crappy hotels than a single trip in an amazing hotel. And then 120k miles really feels a lot to me (I saved them over 5-6 years).

Above I mentioned somewhere that in 2019 there was a Cyber Monday deal every destination US to Asia/Pacific for just 30k round trip! I was able to get a trip to Micronesia, absolutely amazing deal! Is there hope that similar deals will show up again?

Yes, in terms of cashflow it would be nicer to book a flight with miles and not pay cash but it really goes back to my original questions: Ideally I'd like to use the miles for something that with cash would cost much more, like my Micronesia example above. Ideally amazing destinations/multiple trips in Economy but if not, international Business class.

entropy

You just answered your own question. You don't value J to be >>> Y... in that case, I'd just blow the miles and save the cash for your mortgage.
Don't think about the "time" it took you to accumulate them just sign up for a new credit card

VegasGambler

Spending far too much time on FT definitely helps. That's how I found it. There was a thread about it here (someone stumbled across it and was kind enough to share) and the deal lasted 5 days. I would not expect anything similar any time soon but you never know. Having miles available to burn (which I actually don't any more) is nice to jump on something like this.

But if you have trip you want/need to take and the only way it works for you is with miles then spend your miles. You can always earn more. Credit card deals and partner offers are not going away. Don't limit yourself to earning from flying.

hsawaknow

This.

asquare

You have gotten good advice so far in terms of valuing the miles. The only other thing I would add in though is that using miles does not accrue PQP, and if flying to Europe on $$ allows you to requalify or increase the level of elite status for the following year, where you wouldn't attain it without the PQP, then that would definitely make me strongly consider spending the money in this scenario.