I was forced to edit, delete posts, and give warnings regarding TOS violations. I shouldn't have to remind forum members that personal attacks will not be tolerated. http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q87

I changed the thread title to reference the fees as well.

At the moment, I'm not going to merge this thread with the others. This decision could be changed.... or overridden

--------------------- moderator hat off -----------------------------

One thing we all agree is that the fees are outrageous. It's a loyalty award ticket that you've earned by spending dollars and either flying or other point earning avenues. The volume of complaints will remain as long as the silly charges do.

I disagree with some opinions that fees in this range are the price of redemption. I recently redeemed and flew a 20,000 point international economy redemption (using another airline's miles). Taxes & fees were $28.