<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by xyzzy:
The only problem with the WN rapid rewards in this scenario is that credits expire after a year. If the flyer is truly traveling infrequently then that might be a problem.</font>
Picking up the necessary extra credits to reach 16 shouldn't be any trouble at all for a true Flyertalker.
Specifically, in the past few months we have had an MCI promo (1 credit per month for 8 months) and triple credits on the 18th of the month (still available for September and October). Half a credit per Hampton stay is also a good value, IMHO. And there's always the Visa card (4 credits for signup plus one per $1250 of purchases). Piece of cake.