Great info!!! Well done. Thanks for the effort in putting these tips in one place for easy access.

My MR process steps are a little different; allow me to share:

Step 1: Determine the dates you have free to travel. i.e Feb 12-13.
Step 2: Go to Dream Maps on travelocity and see which cities are on sale from your departure airport. I also check the Sunday Newspaper to see what cities are on sale from my home airport.
Step 3: Go to your preferred airline's website and see what the fares are for those cities on sale for your dates of travel. Just keep plugging in different cities until you find one that suits your budget.
Step 4: If you find two or three cities on sale, try adding them as connections that fit your schedule in an effort to add more segments/miles (using multi-city option) yet keeping the cost low.

There are several alternatives to this and I think we all have different MR priorities. Some of us fly from out-of-the way cities, some from Hubs so that fact may change the process. We can all learn from each other, that's for sure.