8 Comments »

1. I think Bloomberg has it wrong: the driver behind the increase in redemptions is that miles are losing their value. With all the fees we were told that the free ticket we thought we earned for 25,000 miles now costs $20, and tomorrow will most likely cost $100 and cost $40,000 miles…so why wait?

   Comment by Hillrider — September 25, 2008 @ 1:19 am

2. Hillrider, you make a very good point

   Comment by Rick Seaney — September 25, 2008 @ 9:40 am

3. Even better, you can use your miles on items that could outlast the airline. United offers all sorts of items from alarm clocks to flat panel tv’s for miles. I have a few thousand miles on Delta, which I’ve only flown once, and I use those miles to renew magazine subscriptions for free.

   Comment by Jeremy — September 26, 2008 @ 9:53 am

4. I believe it is generally poor value to redeem award miles for internal US travel. You can often fly cheaper by buying a ticket than spending the value of your miles plus the airline fees.

   The real ‘bargains’ are to be had flying Business and First Class on international routes. See your miles as a way to give yourself a wonderful overseas vacation that begins with your flight and not when you get there after being crammed in “cattle class” for 10 (or 14) hours.

   Comment by Helen Bradley — September 26, 2008 @ 11:55 am

5. If tickets are only going up then why not hoard miles? The longer you hold on to them the more value they have. If today 25000 miles saves you $350 on a ticket then tomorrow it may save you $400! No? Am I off?

   Comment by Moshe — September 26, 2008 @ 1:16 pm

6. Do you ever have deals on flying to Koa Hawaii?

   Comment by Mark — September 26, 2008 @ 1:51 pm

7. It’s all really in the users eye what a frequent flier mile is worth. Personally, I look at both the $ cost of a ticket, number of miles earned on that paid ticket, versus how many miles it is to redeem for a free ticket. For me, using the 25k award for a $500 domestic RT is a great deal, as opposed to 60k for a $1000 international trip. The intl trips would earn many more miles you can redeem for future trips, or put you closer to elite status.

   In addition, you really have to compare redeeming miles for what you would actually spend on a ticket. Many people cite international bus/first awards as great deals based on their very high cash price, however, most people would never spend that much. So you have to weigh it against the cash cost of what you would spend, probably a coach ticket, versus the added comfort of traveling in the forward cabin.

   Comment by Jeff — September 27, 2008 @ 4:02 am

8. Well, I recently tried to redeem my miles with American Airlines, and it was going to cost me $120 for an economy class, domestic return ticket. Good deal? I’m not sure.

   Comment by Sammie — September 30, 2008 @ 12:54 pm

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