I think I did not address the question of why spend any money, if all points/miles is an option?

I suppose it just comes down to bang for the buck. In the coming decade. This particular EK fare feels like a nadir of dollars AND a nadir of miles/points it requires.

My wife and I look at our annual (dollars) budget - - not just travel dollars, but total dollars to live our lives - - and we look at our "savings accounts" in loyalty miles/points. With good stewardship, both our dollars and our points/miles should increase each year, even if not NET increases.

Indeed, retirement is a calculated game of "spend down" for both kinds of assets. For now, we think that "all miles (points)" travel would generally result in spending those down too fast - - and it also means no accrual of miles for any such ("all miles") travel. In the case of Skymiles, there is little or no "privilege" with Silver Medallion... getting to Gold is the beginning of something meaningful, in exchange for our loyalty.

We can always reconsider if it feels like we are spending down the dollars too fast. The bull run (at least in the US equities markets) of the last eight years, in my mind... forecasts, at a minimum... a year or two with low single digit ROI on our nest egg.

Even with being prepared for it, I'm sure that there will be an emotional impact to a year with little or no black ink on our 401k statements. We'll see how we feel (in 2018?) or soon therafter?... especially if such a time period lasts for more than one (or two, or a few? consecutive) year(s).