Thanks for your reply.
I am grinding the LifeMiles site and looking at the US airways one too. I'm looking up various ticket prices and trying to establish patterns and nuances in the booking systems.
I'm reading the forums and searching the web for info too
Posting here is just part of me trying to learn and I'm not just being lazy, I am trying to cover as much as possible and learn in an efficient manner instead of going in the wrong direction.
Thanks for the note on the over depending on air miles versus the opportunity cost of hard cash.