Was I the only one who thought, upon readin the title of this thread, that it was going to be about a scheme to "rent" FF miles? Something like borrowing miles from someone else while promising to pay them back later (perhaps with extra mileage as a form of interest)? Like an organized Coupon Connection.

That idea actually sounds intriguing to me because I have some orphaned miles (5K to 30K) in various accounts that I don't need right now, and could lend to someone who does need them. In return for getting back miles on the same airline or a different one.