My view – CPP should only be used if you realize that it is a seriously flawed formula, yet it is a helpful measure when there is nothing else.
CPP is a one-sided valuation measure, it only values what you spend in points/miles vs. would have spent in cash; it ignores the cost of the points/miles that you used.
For example, if I earned 100K UR points from a SUB, and another 100K from native spending, I now have 200K URs – if I spend 100K URs today, and 100K URs tomorrow, both for flights retailing at $3K, was the CPP equal for both award bookings?
Not in my view.
The first 100K URs were earned easily while the second 100K URs were earned the hard way.
Now, add to that inflow of miles and points earned via shopping portals, bonus offers, manufactured spending, and the valuation of the points used is ever more complex.
Think of it this way – if you find a $100 bill on the street and buy a set of headphones, and you also buy a second pair with $100 from your paycheck, did both headphones cost you the same?
On a “CPP” basis, they did; but in reality, one pair was “free,” while the second pair cost you hours from your life as well as the overhead of earning a living.
It’s the same for award travel – the valuation should include consideration of the value / cost of your inflow point/miles along with your purchased retail value – no one can come up with a universal formula that would work b/c we all have differing inflow costs.
So my approach is, I buy what I want, when I want it to travel when, how, and where we want to travel, on points/miles simply booking the best deal I can find – and never looking back.
30+ years totally “free” now.
And honestly, we care zero about CPP, of course I don’t act totally stupid or uninformed, but what I care about is inflow, if inflow > outflow, I’m winning.