www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Is there some sort of equation/formula one should use to determine whether to pay for a flight or to use miles?

Just wondering if there is some sure-fire way to know when it is most advantageous to use miles instead of just using them when one simply has enough to use.

Thanks, bros.

Let me be more specific ...

Do I use 30,000 AA miles to get from NYC to MDE?
Or should I pay the $500 asking price?

Boss: I'd use the miles in your case.
CH

Personally my answer is when you get old .... hoping the airline is still in business.
I have 2 mill in the bank with one airline and keep buying tickets (even personally).
Over the years I have collected over 5 million with that airline.
A ton of them I sold to an employee of the airline, which he used for family and friends that did not qualify for perks, but he could finagle an upgrade for the in the transaction.

The rule of thumb is that a mile is worth a penny, possibly a little less these days.
So 30k miles in exchange for a $500 ticket is a good deal.

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Come Horny, Leave Happy

The rule most people use is use miles when fares are high.

In this case, $500 NYC-MDE is pretty good. The usual fare is $600-700.

Have you looked at Avianca? I think they still have a daily nonstop from JFK.

www.avianca.com

good advice guys, i'll check out avianca next to see my complete set of options.

as usual, thanks.

i have a simple rule of thumb. i always buy a coach ticket and then always use miles to upgrade bus or first class.

Yes free upgrades only to elites (unless you are using a voucher, or got volunteered to get bumped from a previous flight, or its the only seat left and there is noone with status to give it to, etc.).

And although you can't upgrade for "free" when you've used miles to buy your ticket on Continental, you can use miles (about twice as many, eg. 60K R/T instead of 35K R/T to SJO from the US) to purchase first class seats instead of economy.

And for a more in depth discussion on how to value your miles see:
http://costaricaticas.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27521

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Sex with Gringas in the U.S. is like modern art. Most of it is pretty bad, and the good stuff is out of your price range.

Continental instituted systemwide upgrades this year for OnePass members that accrue 100K elite qualifying miles or 120 elite qualifying points. If you reach this new level (which is 25K over what you need to earn Platinum status) you'll get 4 one-way system-wide upgrade certificates.

For details see:
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/onepass/promotions/registrationDetails.aspx?promoCode=A8131

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Sex with Gringas in the U.S. is like modern art. Most of it is pretty bad, and the good stuff is out of your price range.

thanks again - that link to the previous thread has some good info also.

30k miles is a good A/A deal. Check flight times too. I can not always get the good flights for the low miles. Saw on TV last night they are making money this year. Hope that means cost will be down and passed on.

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Take a walk on the wild side.

And if you believe that, you will also believe that if the HDR girls are having a good year, they will lower their prices, too. I'm not holding my breath for either one.

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" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."