I can't talk about FT per se, but I can talk about points...

I worked for United Express when I got out of college. It was fun, and I got to fly for free, although I never once flew internationally on my benefits. Something about the plane tix might be free, but you can't afford to do much else on $10/hour.

I did get to fly UA's 3-class product domestically more times than I can count, including once when my mom and dad were sleeping on the floor at LAX because they missed their flight to ORD. Me? I was in SFO going back to IAD, and got the F suite.

But all of the those NRSA benefits that people moan about are a gamble. I've got just as much of a chance at getting left at the gate as I do at getting F. You never truly know where you're going to go until you get on the plane. Just getting a middle in seat in back row of economy that doesn't recline, and is next to the lav is a relief. It's a relief, 'cause you get to go home and not chance getting fired for missing work. Calling in sick because you missed your flight is a huge taboo in the industry.

Points gets me a confirmed seat at the front of the plane, with lounge access. I actually get to plan a trip months in advance (if not close to a year) and look forward to actually going.

My wife and I took a six-week trip across SE Asia last year, and we did almost the whole thing on points. Heck, I got SPG C&P every where, which was a bit of a miracle. I didn't have the points for J seats, but AS was running a sale, and we bought enough points to to fly CX J. We paid $2300/pp for those tickets, and it was well worth it.

Had I known that this would have been a huge boon in the miles department, we might have postponed our trip. We picked up almost 1 million miles this year, enough to do a repeat trip next year, albeit in F this time . We've got our travel more or less planned through 2014 with what we have today, and who knows what comes after that.