It’s the question everyone wants to know, just what’s a mile actually worth, and what’s the most effective way to use them?
The answer to the value question is simple, it’s worth whatever you use it for!
If you use use your miles to go from NYC to Miami thats a true shame as that will cost you 25,000 miles for a ticket worth only about $150, pegging each mile at .6 cents each-that’s right just 6/10th of a cent-or about what a capital one “no-hassle point” is worth.
Generally speaking you’ll never get a good valuation for your miles when redeeming for a domestic ticket.
Even from NYC to LAX you should be able to find a ticket for $250, pegging the 25,000 miles value at a penny cents apiece.
The following is a sample list of routes and examples of bang for your buck mile.
Scroll Down For A Legend With All Of The Codes!
How to read the following chart:
Example:
1.CLE-NYC-$98
AA-15K= 0.65
CO-20K= 0.49
UA, DL,-25K= 0.26
How to read it:
The typical price between Cleveland and New York is about $98. On American an award ticket on this route is 15,000 miles, therefore each mile is effectively worth 0.65 cents each. On Continental an award ticket on this route is 20,000 miles, therefore each mile is effectively worth 0.49 cents each. On United and Delta an award ticket on this route is 25,000 miles, therefore each mile is effectively worth 0.26 cents each.
Coach Class Awards:
1.CLE-NYC-$98
AA-15K= 0.65
CO-20K= 0.49
UA, DL,-25K= 0.26
2.NYC-LAX-$250
All Airlines-25k= 1.0
3.NYC-HNL-$600
All Airlines-35K= 1.7
4.NYC-GRU-$900
AA Off Peak-40K= 2.25
CX*-45K= 2.0
CO, DL, UA-50K= 1.8
AA Peak-60K= 1.5
5.NYC-TLV-$1,000
CX*-60K= 1.67
CO-70K= 1.43
AA*, UA*-75K= 1.33
DL-80K= 1.25
6.NYC-NRT-$1,000
AA Off Peak-50K= 2.0
CO, CX*, DL, UA-60K= 1.67
AA Peak-65K= 1.54
7.ORD-LHR-$700
AA Off Peak-40K= 1.75
CX*-45K= 1.55
CO, DL, UA-50K= 1.4
AA Peak-60K= 1.17
8.LAX-SYD-$1,200
CX*-60K= 2.0
AA*-75K= 1.6
UA-80K= 1.5
CO*, DL*-100K= 1.2
Business Class Awards:
Please note that CO and DL have only 2 classes of service, coach and a combo of business and first. Other airlines typically have 3 classes of service.
The following table shows business-first and business-elite for CO and DL respectively, and business for all other airlines.
1.CLE-NYC-$700
All Airlines-45K= 1.55
2.NYC-LAX-$1,000
All Airlines-45k= 2.22
3.NYC-HNL-$2,000
All Airlines-75K= 2.67
4.NYC-GRU-$5,000
CX*-60K= 8.33
All Others-90K= 5.55
5.NYC-TLV-$4,000
CO, CX*-100K= 4.0
UA*-115K= 3.47
DL-120K= 3.33
AA*-135K= 2.96
6.NYC-NRT-$6,000
AA, UA-90K= 6.67
CX*-100K= 6.0
CO, DL-120K= 5.0
7.ORD-LON-$4,000
CX*-60K= 6.67
AA-80K= 5.0
DL, UA-90K= 4.44
CO-100K= 4.0
8.LAX-SYD-$9,000
CX*-100K= 9.0
UA-110K= 8.18
AA*-125K= 7.2
CO*, DL*-150K= 6.0
First Class Awards:
1.CLE-NYC
N/A
2.NYC-LAX-$1,500
AA, UA-60k= 2.5
3.NYC-HNL-$2,500
UA-90K= 2.77
AA-95k= 2.63
4.NYC-GRU-$10,000
CX*-90K= 11.1
UA-110K= 9.09
AA-125K= 8.0
5.NYC-TLV-$9,000
CX*, UA*-140K= 6.43
AA*-180K= 5.0
6.NYC-NRT-$15,000
UA-120K= 12.5
AA-125K= 12.0
CX*-140K= 10.7
7.ORD-LHR-$12,000
CX*-90K= 13.3
AA, UA-125K= 9.6
8.LAX-SYD-$14,000
CX*, UA-140K= 10.0
AA*-145K= 9.65
LEGEND:
Airports:
CLE-Cleveland
GRU-Sao Paulo
HNL-Honolulu
LAX=Los Angeles
LON=London
NRT=Tokyo Narita
NYC=New York
ORD=Chicago O’Hare
SYD=Sydney
TLV-Tel Aviv
Airline Codes:
AA=American Airlines
CO-Continental
CX=Cathay Pacific
DL-Delta
UA-United
*=Travel is on an alliance partner.
Disclaimers:
-All fares are Round trip approximations and are posted for demonstrative purposes only.
-Mileage requirements are subject to change at any time.
Very Short Summary:
While you rarely can make your miles worth much more than a penny while flying domestically, when you travel internationally in premium class cabins your miles can be worth over 15 cents each!
©2006 Ctownbochur.com
Questions, Suggestions, Errors? Please leave a comment!
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12 Comments On "Getting The Most Out Of Your Miles!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
you are not taking into account that many of have lots of miles and it is still better not to spend hard cash on tickets.
Thanks for your graeat article..
When will you post the article about how to use starwood points most effectively?
That was so well written! Dan, Thank you so much for doing all that research, etc., for us. Keep it up!
As i dont fly to much international, is there a way I can sell them to some one that does?
Anon 1-I have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about.
Anon 2- Soon.
danFan- I appreciate the compliment!
Mendy- The only way to have someone else use your miles is by buying them a whole ticket, you can’t transfer miles and combine them with someone else.
Officially, selling is against the terms of the miles and can subject your account to closure, so its best to sell them only to friends or people that you know. I dont recommend selling them online because of the risk that you will get caught in an airline sting operation.
whan u fly international u have to pay taxes!!!
It is a little backwards to say that you get the most with flying FC because you would never pay for it and its triple the miles!!
So I take it that Jet Blue miles aren’t worth it…?
does anyone know if this website is legit? i just spoke to them to sell miles, and i hope thy dont fall into the “I dont recommend selling them online because of the risk that you will get caught in an airline sting operation” category.
http://executivetravelbrokers.com/
thanks
your award price and hence valuations for LAX-SYD are wrong. You said using CX uses the same amount of miles for coach or business?!
Fixed, thanks.
hi!
thanx for the article,
one question thought-i am trying to buy a flight to israel with united airlines miles-ive got about 80,000. They told me a round trip in economy is aobut 75K, however they only have with 1 or 2 stopovers! do you know if i can get a flight with only one or no stopovers-i called united direclty….is there any other way to go about redeeming your miles and still having a decent flight??
thank you for your time