Joshua362 thank you for the offer. Actually, I will gladly pay Marriott the $12.50 that loucanmures suggests. A satisfactory alternative. Once I get my ff air resolved, then I can check availability.

Once retired, all the accounts start getting in the top off, or spend down mode. Status goes, so to leverage. The values get deflated as the point requirements increase. This is especially true with mileage, as the "cost" goes up in points, lots of $$ charges are added to what was a free trip, and the availability goes down. The routing is often awful on FF tickets. Our employer paid for most of the points and mileage, so can't complain too much.