When booking a flight from Bali to Tokyo, I faced a decision many points-and-miles enthusiasts encounter: maximize cents-per-point or maximize overall travel value.

So when booking my October trip from Bali to Tokyo, I had two options:

I’ll break down my exact thinking and how I navigated rational value to choose what I believe to be the best option.

Spoiler: I didn't choose the option with the highest redemption value…and I'd make the same decision again.

In doing my due diligence, I looked at a multitude of various booking options:

I was conflicted about how to approach this booking, largely due to the ideology of having the most efficient travel experience and quality of travel based on the time-bound dates I was working with. While there are arguments that HND is better to fly in compared to NRT, we were comfortable flying into either airport since we weren't in a rush to reach central Tokyo.

This generally was one of the stronger options I had been leaning towards. There are a ton of SIN-TYO (HND & NRT) flights daily, all non-stop. On Singapore Airlines, business class was 104,000 miles (so 208k total). We didn’t want to risk Business Advantage for 80,500, as we wanted to ensure confirmed tickets.

The cash price for Singapore Airlines Business Class between Singapore and Tokyo was approximately 2,931 SGD ($2,294 USD) per passenger. Redeeming 104,000 KrisFlyer miles for the same flight yielded a redemption value of approximately 2.21 cents per mile.

While 2.21 CPP is a very solid redemption, the decision wasn't driven solely by maximizing cents per point. The more important consideration was whether the itinerary would create the greatest overall travel value by minimizing positioning flights, reducing travel stress, and preserving vacation time.

The second option explored was flying from Bali to Tokyo. This seems like a no-brainer from the start because you’re protected on the entire itinerary, don’t have to hassle with checked bags…but that comes at a price. For the one-way trip, Singapore Airlines was charging 147,500 miles per passenger.…I didn’t even pay that much for the world’s longest flight! Granted, we wanted to have a confirmed seat, which costs more…but how could I justify 147,500.

Singapore Airlines was charging approximately 31.9 million IDR ($1,960 USD) per passenger for this itinerary in Business Class. Doing a quick calculation, it comes out to roughly 1.33 cents per mile for redemption value.

It’s a solid option, higher than 1 cent per mile, but I had to remain objective in my search to have an alternative option to reaffirm any potential decisioning around this flight.

From a pure cost-benefit analysis, using miles to book via economy could have been the smartest move. There are a ton of award options on Singapore Airlines that have Saver availability.

However, one key thing to note is that we didn’t want to spend a full day traveling and effectively lose one day that could be otherwise spent on the beach.

At first glance, redeeming 27,000 KrisFlyer miles for economy class may not seem exciting compared to a business class redemption. However, the economics tell a different story.

The nonstop Singapore Airlines itineraries were selling for roughly $422–$498 per person, which gives redemption values between 1.56 and 1.84 cents per mile. The highest-value option, operated partly by Scoot, generated nearly 1.94 cents per mile.

While many travelers chase premium cabin redemptions, these economy awards demonstrate an important principle: the best redemption isn't always the one with the highest cabin class. It's the one that delivers the most value relative to the cash alternative.

In this case, 27,000 miles effectively replaced a ticket costing nearly $500, making it one of the strongest economy redemptions available for travel between Bali and Japan.

On paper, the economy redemption looked like the best value. In reality, the decision was more complicated than a simple CPP calculation.

This is where The Fare Theory differs from traditional points-and-miles thinking.

There are far more variables involved in a booking decision than simply maximizing cents per point.

Miles sitting in a loyalty account are constantly at risk of devaluation. Airlines routinely increase award prices, expand dynamic pricing, and reduce redemption opportunities with little notice. The redemption that looks expensive today may look like a bargain tomorrow.

More importantly, points are a renewable resource. Time is not.

Travelers often become obsessed with squeezing every last fraction of a cent from their points balance. They spend hours searching for the perfect redemption, positioning to alternate airports, or accepting inconvenient itineraries simply because the math looks better on paper.

But travel doesn't happen on a spreadsheet.

When evaluating this booking, I considered several factors beyond CPP:

These factors don't appear in a CPP calculation, but they absolutely affect the overall value of a trip.

While 1.33 cents per mile is not an extraordinary redemption by traditional points-and-miles standards, the decision was never based solely on cents per point.

The itinerary provided convenient timing, a protected connection in Singapore, checked baggage through to Tokyo, and access to one of the world's highest-rated business class products.

Spend enough time in points-and-miles circles and you'll quickly learn that everyone loves talking about CPP.

Don't get me wrong, it's useful. But I think travelers sometimes become so focused on maximizing a number that they forget why they're traveling in the first place. At the end of the day, a flight redemption isn't just math.

It's time, convenience, stress, comfort, and the overall experience.

Was it the highest CPP redemption available? Nope!

Would I book it again? Absolutely!

And that's exactly what The Fare Theory is about.