There was no way AS was going to hold it together with all the hostile changes at AA and DL. I think we knew that.

I used to be a well-oiled machine back in "happier" times, earning about 120K RDMs and burning around that amount as well, with an annual SE Asia trip usually taking around half on the redemptions. Since dropping out on the legacies 2 years ago, though, I've fallen behind on the spend side. Will have to use or lose EY miles soon, and F9 is also piling up well ahead of spending.

If I were 15-20 years younger and having to face the current situation with a long list of desired places and more of a sense of urgency, I s'pose I'd be investing more efforts into manufactured spending or looking at things like fuel dumps. The general principle is the same as it ever was: You need some kind of knowledge or skill "edge" that most people don't have. Being able to put together inefficient MRs via green screens and command lines on easySABRE used to be such an edge back in the 90s, but the tools got easier, more people got into the game and almost by definition the old rewards became hard to sustain. And the airlines merged and got oligopolistic.

Bottom line for me in the past 2-3 years is spending less than ever on airfares but also not getting much in mileage benefit (or perks) for it.