Great ideas. How would I sell the Amtrak giftcards? If I had 10mm miles, then I'd convert to 1000 Amtrak $100 gift cards. Now how do I make those cash?
Any way to do this at a higher redemption value? I wish i could sell someone my first class tickets in an intelligent way that didn't violate t&c. That would boost my mile value from .5-1c per mile in Amex cash or Amtrak gift card to 5-15c per mile in international business/first class. Hmmm....
What if you bought out first class on a bunch of flights? Took every seat available with a combination of partner and anytime miles. Think they'd be willing to buy some of the seats back from you for revenue passengers? Crazy, I know. Let's get creative, let's get nuts!