There's a wide continuum of options between "cheap" and a $20,000 tour.

Most FT'ers are somewhere in the middle. People spending that kind of coin on an Egypt tour don't really need the points/miles game, and we aren't really a backpacker site. We have ultra-luxury and budget forums here but they're somewhat on our fringe...there are other, better sites out there for those topics.

When we went to Egypt (about 10 years ago), we used points and miles to handle the flights and hotels and hired private drivers and guides based on some personal recommendations, including a couple from other FTers. It was a great trip...two weeks for two people for maybe $4k-5k total cash out of pocket. Abu Sembel, Aswan, Luxor (stayed 5 nights there), Cairo + nearby pyramid sites, and Alexandria. We didn't bother with a cruise - we wanted to maximize time spent visiting different sites. Plus the drivers got us to some off-the-beaten path sites between the major destinations.

Would it have been cool to have Dr. Hawass and a bunch of private access? Sure....but wouldn't have been worth an extra $15k to us. That's 3 more entire international trips for two (augmented by points/miles, of course).