i think Europe is where it sometimes made least sense to get a 'free' ticket for which taxes were higher than the cheapest non-flex paid tickets taxes included! However, the problem is that this simply reverses the issue. Typically, as my dates are predictable and known early and i usually don't need the flexibility of award tickets, I just wish I could pay the FARE with cash and the TAXES with the 15000 miles return and then I might sometimes be interested in Y awards in Europe!!