I agree that traditional mileage runs (turnarounds just for the status miles) are pretty hard to justify in your case - the cost for the added benefits are pretty steep. You might want to consider mini-vacations instead, where you add a vacation day or two to a three-day weekend to get a nice break from work. If that is the case, you have a bunch of choices of really nice places to visit. Since you are enjoying the destination, flying a lot of miles as efficiently as possible to allow more time to enjoy the destination becomes an advantage that can offset a higher cost per mile to some places.