With my CO miles, I've only used them once to 'gift' my stepson & his family a trip to FL during peak season. Other than that I use them for mileage upgrades internationally. I've currently got 1,300m+ miles in my OP account, and have no upcoming plans for spending them. A couple of years ago, I had approximately 400,000 UA miles, and as I fly out of EWR and do not relish connecting international flights (ortravelling on UA in general)... I used just about all of those miles on merchandise (2 flat screen tv's, camera, tools, household goods, leather goods etc). Unlike my CO miles, the UA miles would have expired, so rather than lose them-- I 'spent' them Other than that, I do have about 114,000 US miles, not sure exactly what I'll do with them-- but most likely will gift them to my godson, who recently got a job as a NOAA observer in Alaksa (fishing boats off of Dutch Harbor). He'll be travelling back & forth between CT and his job, and could use them for a quick vacation.