When I am not 100% sure I will be taking a flight I always use points. I like to keep a bank of at least 50,000 points in my account. I would say I wind up canceling about half the tickets. I use this a lot for tickets for my wife if I am not sure she will be accompanying me on a trip and also if I am not sure exactly what day I will be returning from a trip I can buy multiple point tickets when on sale.