Thank you so much for all of your responses. I have an Infinia credit card. United usually is quite cheap while flying to North America but no fares that I have checked qualify for miles+cash for me. UK seems like a sensible option to park miles. The problem with Air India is the present quality of flights and the exorbitant fares charged for it. For example, one-way DEL-YVR Y fare is usually about 2L + rupees, whereas, I can find a decent Cathay/ANA + United J fare for about 1.4L rupees and the other economy options usually hover around the 60-80k fare mark. In your opinion is the Air India program even that sensible in terms of value compared to other frequent flyer programs? For hotels, I have started sticking to Marriott and am 5 nights away from Platinum elite.