I did the 170,000 points to Cozmuel on Dec26. Wasn't the greatest value I admit but flights around that time were long gone as of june. I already have spent 125,000 on flights in Sept. and have a current balance of 200,000. So why would I spend my own cash and leave AP with 170,000? I have enough points for the flights I need in a year with lots of AP points left over. Gift cards are .08c as well and might start cashing them in for cards. I also get around 70,000-90,000 in bonus 1.5x points per year as well so it's not as simple a calculation as .08c/mile in my case.

I could use the TD infinity travel card as well but getting the wife (it's mostly her biz spending) to card switch when she has a lot of pre-authorized payments is just another PIA.

I might get a SPG card though for all non-1.5x spending...