It’s not smart to use miles on domestic flights (except when it is)

Last week, I was lucky enough to win tickets to Oprah’s final show. I’ve been sick and decided to treat myself to a first-class return from Chicago. It cost me 25,000 United miles and I received slightly more room than coach, a little more attention, and a few snacks.

Was it worth it? 
Nope. Domestic fist-class is really nothing special…definitely not worth the price (in money or miles). However, international first-class is a completely different animal. Let’s look at some strategy here. You could keep wasting miles on domestic flights and gradually run out of them. Or you could be patient and save up for international travel that looks like this. 
The way I see it, you could eat at Sizzler 3 times, but wouldn’t you rather go to Morton’s once? I can handle a 4-hour flight in coach, but when it comes to a 15-hour trip across the globe, there is a world of difference between this:
and this: 
On the other hand, I was looking at same-day fares today. I wanted to go from Los Angeles to Washington DC and I needed to leave in the next 8 hours. The price of a one-way ticket in coach was a whopping $1600. The price in miles was 25,000. So in conclusion…
25,000 miles to fly coach this week  – Worth it
25k miles to fly first class last week –  Not worth it
The lesson? If you don’t hold any elite flying status and you’re not hoarding millions of miles, you should be smart with them. Save up for either last-minute flights or international travel. 

ExpertFlyer

For people who actually use their miles, ExpertFlyer is a website worth checking out. Next time you’re researching/planning/booking a flight, go to www.expertflyer.com. Sign up for their 5-day free trial (no credit card required) and thank me later. I especially like that you can see the paid and award seat inventory of hundreds of flights in one place.