Of course, purchasing miles when you know that award space is available can still make sense in such situations as it's usually cheaper than buying a first or business
class ticket outright.
Not exact matches
Mileage upgrade: A confirmed upgrade to a cash
ticket using miles that is typically accompanied by an additional cash payment but still offers a significant discount on purchasing a business or first
class flight
outright.
For example, it is much better to use American Express Membership rewards Points to transfer to British Airways Avios to purchase a Business
Class Are Lingus
ticket from Boston to Dublin than it is to use a fixed - point earning currency to
outright pay that
ticket at the cash price.
The equation changes a bit if you're looking at complex premium cabin itineraries — a business
class ticket to Asia will «cost» you $ 2,000, much less than actually purchasing a
ticket outright (though you may reconsider flying in business if you knew it was costing you $ 2,000 vs. $ 1,000 to
outright buy a coach
ticket).