when is it "worth it" to use FF miles to get a flight?

[disneyberry]

my bf and i both have around 20000 miles w/ US Air, enough to get 1 free off-peak roundtrip ticket each.

we have a lot of short weekend trips to WDW coming up in the next six months, we're using some vouchers for some of the airfare, and were thinking about using up our miles for one trip.

but... looking at the airfares from NYC to MCO, generally it's not extremely difficult to find an airfare for under $180 the times we go(usually we fly for $150 or less w/ some hunting).

this doesn't seem worth it to use up the "free" domestic ticket w/ our miles.

just want to know your opinion, for you frequent flyers out there, what flights do you think are worth it to use up FF miles on? (i.e. if airfare was over a certain $ amt, or typical routes which are more expensive?)

 

[Bigcat]

I wouldn't use my miles for such a short, cheap trip. I only use them when I fly coast-to-coast. The other option is to upgrade to first class. With airfares so cheap, why not splurge, pay for the ticket and upgrade!

 

[DisneyKidds]

We do use FF miles to get from NY to Orlando. We usually try to travel as cheaply as possible and not having to pay for airfare fits the bill. However, with airfares so cheap right now I am redepositing miles and buying tickets for our Nov trip. We are paying $89.50 r/t. Didn't seem like a good use of miles with fares that cheap. Generally, if I can get airfares for $150 or less I would purchase, if not I'd use miles. Others may hold on to miles for more expensive trips, but we don't take cross country flights as a family so we are content to use the miles for FL.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

first thing I would do is get the dates together for your trips. try each one to book in the FTP tkts. (they book fast to vegas, orlando, hawaii and california) I have enough miles on CO to get 2 free ttks and I plan on using those for my DD and me to go to disneyland. if I flew them to mco it would take me 9 hrs with the schedules they have from pit. by all means use those tkts to fly to MCO. its for what ya love right?
if you know you will be flying to the west coast then save them for that trip if not go for it! plus with the online booking bonuses and other ways to get your ftp miles you will have it built back up in no time!

 

[ducklite]

I NEVER use FF miles on short hauls or where I can buy cheap tickets. The generally recognized rule of thumb is that each FF is worth about 10 cents. So using 20,000 miles on a ticket worth less than $200 is a waste. I generally won't use them on a ticket less than about $300+. And what I actually prefer to do is use them in order to secure a FC upgrade for the long hauls or cross country flights.

I recently used a FF ticket to travel EWR to YYC via ORD. It's about 7 hours of travel, not including getting to the airport 2 hours early, and clearing Customs on the arrival end. I used 40,000 FF miles to get a FC ticket that would have cost me $2800. That was a "good deal" IMHO. The coach ticket would have been $800, which still would have been a "good deal" if I had used 20,000 points.

I prefer to wedge myself into coach and not plan on being fed anything that I'll eat for the short hauls in order to save those points for when they really matter Also, I remain loyal to a couple of carriers in order to maintain my Elite status, which entitles me to upgrades pretty often.

Keep in mind that FF seats are capacity controlled, and fill up very, very quickly to resort destinations. So it's quite possible you might not even have the option. Be flexible with your travel plans when using FF miles.

Anne

 

[barbliny]

I personally would not use them for NY to Orlando travel. We're waiting to use them on long hauls.

Mind if I jump in here with a question??

Since you all seem knowledgable about FF miles -- maybe you know this offhand. I don't have my Skymiles account number with me so I can't check.

Do you know how many miles are needed for domestic, Hawaii, Carribean and international flights? We have a ton of miles that we have never used -- we been waiting to be able to get an exotic expensive flight for four at no cost.

Thanks.