if i can make something out of it by visiting friends/family or a cool place, i will take a trip i wouldn't normally take at 5cpm.

turn and burn is very subjective, last year i was 2500 miles short of gold at the end of the year and went PHL-DEN-PHL on december 14th to round it out and paid ~7.2cpm. i don't do strict MRs throughout the whole year, I get to Q3ish and then see where i think i will be at the years end. if its clear i am going to be short of requalification i target the sub 4.0cpm level and easy trips (nothing international, high segment count regionals preferred for me but everyone has their preferences).