Hey, thanks Mal! Good deal. I typically expect to redeem 60K miles per person for RT award seats from the U.S. to Europe.

My wife and I are still Coach / Economy flyer. While I've spoiled her, and me, buy getting many Hotel free night stays with points, certs, and Elite statuses, we still fly Coach to get to and from Europe.

Since I'm unable to generate a huge amount of miles through Spend alone, we tend to prefer being a bit frugal with our miles, flying coach and so being able to travel abroad more frequently.

One of these days I'll fly Business and/or First Class. I know my wife and I drool over the flat beds each time we board and cross the Atlantic. But then our miles "take us further and more frequently" by sticking with Coach.

I think I'd like to fly Business or First Class from the U.S. to Asia, Australia, or New Zealand with a flat bed seat. Given my style of travel--what works for me given my limited ability to generate miles via pure Spend alone-even I think that's a worthwhile redemeption. :-) Whereas for others, it's a Must.

Personal Finance author Andrew Tobias once wrote, in his classic guide to investing, something like "A luxury once tasted becomes a necessity; so pace yourself." I've tried to abide by that advice.

With Hotel Stays, it's pretty easy to get free night certs, etc. But building up miles sufficient for overseas Award Travel, for me anyway, are harder to come by. Typically don't do the Manufactured Spend thing. Don't want to anger the Analytics Gods, etc. :-)