I had this exact conversation with a non-FF this past weekend. While I'm not nearly as good as some FTers and dealhunters out there, I tend to get fairly decent pricing/redemptions when we travel, so he asked how much time I spend researching before finding what I want. I told him days, sometimes weeks. He was bewildered - I think the general public opens an Orbitz or Expedia window and books without much thought into the process other than maybe thinking "okay, let's book a 3.5-star and sort by price".