Originally Posted by
Supersonic Swinger
With the proviso that lifetime means for the life of the program rules (which can be changed at any time) of the life of the airline's solvency.
195,000 AA points gets you a RTW business class flight which I think is one of the better rates going... There are usually enough opportunities to keep your miles alive with some partner activity in the required 18 months.
130K is usually enough (20K mile award) - why pay almost 1.5X that amount? CX has similar burn rate for oneworld awards (although with restrictions on # of stopovers).
If the OP is crediting mostly shorthaul flights in Europe (in J), then Malev's Duna Club might work. You can get 3X or more for J, depending on the route.
Miles credited seem to be flat rates, depending on class of service and miles flown. Minimum credit is 195 for deep discount Y under 500 miles (minimum 39% rate).
http://www.malev.com/dunaclub/point-accrual/oneworld
Burn rates are not the best, but not horrible either.
http://www.malev.com/dunaclub/point-redemption/oneworld