Quick poll on G reward flights (with hard figures)!

Hello again, I thought I'd put down some options with hard figures, and see what people think is the best course of action.

I'm FC AU, with 150k miles in the bank. These figures, below, are for return LHR-JFK-LHR flights in Upper Class (UC). Availability has been checked already, so this is not a futile query!

1) Straight UC (G) reward purchase = £503 + 80k miles (earning no miles, no Tier Points); net miles used = 80k
2) Economy (M) upgrade to UC = £860 + 40k miles (but earning back 14k miles + 6 Tier Points on the M booking, see below); net miles used = 26k
3) Premium (S) upgrade to UC = £1,253 + 20k miles (but earning back 17.3k miles + 8 Tier Points on the S booking, see below); net miles used = 2.7k

For those who don't already know, I'd earn miles & Tier Points on options 2) & 3), but not 1). I can also add Miles Booster on all three options: £70 for 7k miles, or £140 for 14k miles.

In terms of ticket changes 1) comes with the bonus of free changes (as I am AU); as for 2) and 3) I'm not sure precisely, but probably around £100 per change at fare classes M & S.

For reference, a straight (cheapest available) cash booking is £500 in Economy (earning 14k miles with AU bonus + 4 Tier Points), £915 in Premium (earning 15.5k miles with AU bonus + 6 Tier Points) and £2,500 in Upper (earning 17.5k miles with AU bonus + 10 Tier Points).

In terms of £ per mile, option 3) looks best: £1, 253 for UC with a net usage of only 2.7k miles. And if you add basic Miles Booster (£70 for 7k miles), that's an UC ticket for £1,323 earning 8 Tier Points *and earning* 4.3k miles.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

NYLON

Hi Nylon,

Your option 3 is also the path I would take, however I also pay by VS black cc which on my route [LHR-PVG] results in me actually still earning several thousand miles .
I also value the additional tier points the S fare gives over an M fare

Your last paragraph referencing the standard upper fare, I think should read 10pts for UC not 8pts

In pure cash terms, not including the miles you can buy with booster, I'd go for option 2.

If you value miles at 1p each, and take into account the miles you earn back:

Option 1 = £503 + £800 worth of miles = £1303
Option 2 = £860 + £260 worth of miles = £1120
Option 3 = £1253 + £27 worth of miles = £1280

Having said that it's not necessarily just about pure cash of course. The deal that's best for you will also depend on how many tier points you need to earn if you're chasing AU again, and on how many miles you actually want to spend.

Personally I would, and do, go for option 2)
It's costing you £360 over option 1) but saves you 54k miles
which would cost £810 to buy. So good value.

As you have 150k miles I wouldn't even look at option 3)
I use the £400 as extra spending money.

I you are desperate for miles you can always do a double miles booster and buy 14k for £140, which would mean you lay out £1000 use 40k miles but put back 28k miles

Dick D

Thanks, International Hitman: duly corrected! I always buy my fares using my US VS Mastercard (=3 miles per $).

Thanks too, gumshoe. What you say makes sense at 1p per mile. Can I ask why are miles valued at 1p, though?

Thanks!

Didn't think of it that way, dicky, but that makes a lot of sense too.

Very interesting!

There are so many variables which we do not know about you and what you value most, it is impossible to advise. But I shall

Now I am relatively new at this airmiles malarky but for me, who has little to no interest in status and more of an eye for value for money, I would choose Option 2. A small-ish extra monetary payment and enough points left to do it again another day!

Maybe I am wrong but using miles to upgrade cabin from economy to business, in whatever airlines rewards scheme, is usually better value, pound for point, than using miles outright to get a reward ticket with just tax to pay. Maybe I am wrong on that but my "collecting goal" with VS was always to get points to upgrade economy to UC, which is what I recently did.

Good to hear there are reward upgrades available. I had no problem getting availability in the opposite direction, there were seats available on every day I had considered

I will be interested to see what others thoughts are.

Thanks, International Hitman: duly corrected! I always buy my fares using my US VS Mastercard (=3 miles per $).

Thanks too, gumshoe. What you say makes sense at 1p per mile. Can I ask why are miles valued at 1p, though?

Thanks!

Because that's what you'd pay for them if you used miles booster.

Actually I tend to value them at 1.5p as that's what they cost under the normal Buy Miles scheme.

Not that I ever buy miles - apparently they're a hugely lucrative revenue stream for airlines as many never ultimately get used and you're paying good money for something they could devalue tomorrow should they so choose.

Got it! Thanks, gumshoe.

Not sure what else I can tell you, Maximus, but... I travel a lot so I accrue roughly 250k miles per year, I'd say, and can easily renew AU. But I do like to renew with 60 TP, so that I can hand out Clubhouse passes!

Thanks for your input, very astute. Really, I suppose, I'm trying to choose between 2) & 3), but reminding myself of 1) is useful for comparison!

So you are miles rich

I'd go with option 2, definitely.

Thanks, Maximus. I'm getting the feeling 2) is winning here...

The one thing to say about 1) is the ability to change the ticket as many times as I like for free (availability permitting).

It's not something I plan on doing, of course, but I have certainly moved/cancelled reward tickets without penalty quite a few times before.

That is always a risk but I suspect if you can change a ticket at no cost, you are more inclined to do it. If there is a penalty involved you will make the effort not to have to change it i.e. re-arrange your life accordingly! Though easier said than done

Actually, you're quite right, Maximus! I've probably changed reward tickets (without penalty) maybe ten times in the last three years, and only once was it because of something truly unavoidable.

There's best-selling book in there somewhere: "The V-Flyer Guide to the Psychology of Penalty-Free Reward Ticket Changes"...

For me I go with the extra TP.
Miles can be bought easily - TP cannot and maintaining status is always good. You never know what unexpectedly happens that stops some of your trips and find yourself short of TP to reach a threshold.

[Neil]

Ultimately it comes down to what you want to achieve.

The cheapest option?
The best use of miles?
The best way to retain as many miles as possible?
The most flexible option?

Everyone has their own wants, and only you know what your main goal is. I personally like option 2 best, mid price and use of miles, while still getting some TP and miles back.

Good points, everyone, thanks. You're right, it's a personal choice, and I'm leaning toward option 2)...

I have a question about option 3) with basic Miles Booster.

So that's £1,323, earning 8 Tier Points and earning 4.3k miles (assuming I am AU).

As long as I maintain AU (it won't be a problem with my travel schedule), and assuming availability, is this not a sure way of always flying UC at around 50% discount to the lowest cash UC fare, and never having to worry about earning miles?

Technically yes, but your assumption that there's always 'S' and 'G' availability on the dates and routes you want to fly is a dangerous one - it's by no means a given.

The AMS trick is a more reliable way of saving £££ on UC fares while still earning full miles & TPs but it has the drawback of the extra time and hassle of getting to your European starting hub.

Thanks, gumshoe. Another good point.

That said, my standard route is LON-NYC, and I've always found MSG (that sounds bad!) fairly freely available. I know other routes are really tricky, though.

Option 2 for me, too, for what is worth.

By the way, gumshoe, whenever I do originate from AMS/BRU/DUB/BCN, I always buy direct from VS (over the phone), even though the European leg is normally BA. That way I get extra miles/points by using a VS credit card.

Is it possible (and if so, is it sensible) to combine the AMS trick with a reward redemption? E.g. Buy an M for AMS-LHR-JFK-LHR-AMS and use miles to upgrade the two transatlantic legs?

I was wondering that too. Is that actually possible?

[Neil]

Is it possible (and if so, is it sensible) to combine the AMS trick with a reward redemption? E.g. Buy an M for AMS-LHR-JFK-LHR-AMS and use miles to upgrade the two transatlantic legs?

The savings aren't really worth it on an economy fare though.
It is only really on UC fares does the saving become worth the extra hassle and cost to go via AMS, on an M fare it just wouldn't make sense.

Neil

Just an update on this, after all your kind advice: I opted for option 2)

The full calculation is as follows:

- LHR/JFK return Economy (M) upgrade to UC (G) = £860 + 40k miles.

- I earn back 13,832 miles on the M fare with my AU status (+ 6 tier points)

- I forgot that I also earn back 4,396 miles on the purchase using my US VS credit card ($1,465.33[=£860] x 3)

- Net miles used = 21,772.

I think that's a really good deal: thank you, everyone.

NYLON

Well done NYLON,

And if travelling before 10th July, hopefully you had registered for the latest VS promotion --- an extra 2pts per sector in economy + 50% extra base miles --- I just travelled on an upgraded M, received 10pts