Very much depends upon your circumstance. I fly a tremendous amount and my miles accumulate very quick. Over the last several years I've taken the family on a number of trips internationally in C/F. But now I have one finishing high school and two in college. No ones schedule lines up. So, these sort of international trips aren't possible. What matters to me is that the family is together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So I use my miles to fly my son home from ROA-BOS. A great use of miles; no. But for 3 trips home per year it would be about $1,200. So, spending the miles makes sense for me.