my parents will occasionally pay for my flights to see them. The reason I brought up the thing about my GF is because every summer her family takes a vacation, and every summer I CANNOT afford a plane ticket to where ever they are going because I usually have to pay tuition around that time. So, in a way this is guaranteeing that if they go on vacation, and I actually want to go to this place I cannot afford a ticket to, then I will be able to afford the ticket because I will have enough FF points saved up. Also, like for my little brother's 21st b-day I want to suprise him and my parents by just showing up, again with no money, the one way to assure this is by earning with my CC. I say that I will take these flights several times a year when realistically the last time I was in detroit was 3 years ago, and the last time I could afford to go to florida was 2 years ago. My GFs parents always pay for everything BUT my plane ticket, which is hugely generous, and which is why I would like to earn these pts, to be able to go with them on the vacation they so graciously offered to fund. Also I may occasionally need to take an emergency flight to BNA in case of emergencies and would never have the extra $ just laying around to pay x,xxx dollars for a ticket 5-6 days in advance. So, I would like to bank them for when someone isn't paying for my ticket and I really want to be able to go somewhere even with no money. I guess that is what I am getting at. I am also sorry I made it so difficult for everyone to give me advice, I was not intending to do this.