I tend to use my points for hotel awards... for instance, 75,000 AAdvantage miles gets you 150,000 HHonors points, which is enough for a 4day stay at the Molino Stucky in Venice (where I'll be next week - a $1300 value), or the Cavalieri in Rome or any of the London properties, an even greater value. I can generally find a good airfare wherever I'm going and it's generally far less than what a top tier hotel stay would be, plus there's the benefit of earning miles.

Also, by using my HHonors Surpass card I earn 3, 6 or 9pts per dollar spent and with 20K spend during the year I maintain Gold status without having to pay for a single night.