What are points worth?
There is a lot of talk about “the value of points.” Sure, you can figure out the straight economics of points (for example, each Southwest point = $1.67 cents on Wanna Get Away Fares – or twice that if you have a SWACP), but quite frankly, I don’t pay much attention to the economics of points (funny enough, I was an econ major!). The reason is that points allow much more than just not outlaying cash. Even if the economics didn’t make sense because I could have found cheapish tickets to Mardi Gras, the fact that nspfiance and I could both travel from round-trip between Cleveland and New Orleans for $10 total made the 23-hour foray worth it – and thus we booked it. If flights were as low as $200 round-trip, would we have pulled the trigger? That’s a toss-up. And that trip, and experience, is hard to put a dollar-value on.
In addition, how would you value our trip to South America last fall, flying first-class on 5 segments, mostly international? Do you value it at the ~$6,000+ the flights themselves would have cost? Do you value it at the ~$1,800 it would have cost if we flew economy (given that we were taking the trip for a friend’s wedding regardless of price)? Or do you chalk it up that miles and points gave us an experience we won’t soon forget, allowing us to do things we otherwise would never have been able to do? That’s how I value miles & points.
Smoking a cigar and having a glass of wine sitting on the courtyard deck above is hard to put a value on
Last Wednesday afternoon I learned I needed to travel to St. Louis, quickly. Surprisingly, there are very few non-stop flights. There was one the following day that left at 7:30am, and luckily had Saver Award Availability. 10,000 Miles + $77.50 (due to United’s Close-In fee) and I was in St. Louis. I could have chosen to fly on United, Southwest, U.S Airways or American – all for miles alone if I had wanted/needed. This was a short-haul trip, so prices each way were in the $200-$300 range. But if I needed to go to Timbuktu, I could still have found a way to get there, essentially for free or for minimal costs.
That’s how I value my miles and points.
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