> I probably would have bought the $1250 tickets instead of the $5k tickets, but we certainly appreciated the upgrade. It’s all about perspective. For instanc

> I probably would have bought the $1250 tickets instead of the $5k tickets, but we certainly appreciated the upgrade. It’s all about perspective. For instance, my wife and I end up doing the MCO <-> ATL route a few times a year. We live in Orlando and our family/friends are in ATL. (Don’t quote me on the exact numbers. I found something similar when I looked a couple of months ago) I could fly main cabin for 13,000 miles one way and get around 1.3 cpp on Delta Main cabin. Alternatively, I was able to find a Delta flight booked through Virgin Atlantic for 18000 miles first class where I would get 1.7 cpp. The value chasers would have chosen Virgin Atlantic. I fly Main anyway and it wasn’t worth the extra 5000 points. While 5000 points is only worth about $75, even with my best earning Amex Point categories - groceries and dining at 4x on the Gold - I would still need to spend $1250 to recoup those points. Also, the standard issue with booking through partners is that only a limited number of award bookings are open and usually first class. I could find multiple flights on any given day on Delta. I could find only one during the week on Virgin Atlantic.