Spoke to my wife last night about travel plans for the future. I had already looked on the internet and found that a timeshare week I had banked could be redeemed for a week at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale. We actually own there and love the place. It is for early September, 2011.

Went to look at flights and hoped to be able to use miles. As usual, very little non-stop available on Continental except at twice the normal mileage. Checked with US Air and found that they had Economy for 42,500 per person (still better than Continental who wanted 50k) but, lo and behold, First Class for 50,000.

A bit shocked to see the the cost in dollars for coach was way over $400. I have read a lot about fares going up but this was a lot more than we have usually paid. Anyway, for a bit more, we will go First Class. Lesson learned - it always pays to check. Somewhat counter-intuitive that better deals might be available in the front of the plane, but it certainly worked out this time. And the fact that these miles were transferred from Starwood at at 50% bonus (on top of Starwood's normal 25% bonus) makes it even better!