I think Ben said in his interview here (around 39 minutes in) that FB was considering increasing the redemptions across the board, but having more inventory as they target the USA credit card market, because "that's where we make a lot of money from, these transactional customers, rather than loyal customers". I don't think I've taken his quote out of context, and since the USA is awashed with credit card points, a 25% increase in minimum award for more inventory makes sense. The problem is I can't really find any 'saver' fares for the long haul routes I've looked at - there may be one at 85000 in one month, and one solitary 85000 return two months later. Or maybe FB IT is trying to iron out issues because the redemptions change by the second - I looked at BRS-TPE in November and saw quite a few at 87500, but after looking at one they all jumped to 286500!

I agree, but then the misconception on this forum seems to be that Ben is 'on our side'. Ben is responsible to the shareholders and his duty is to them - his presence here (which I appreciate, please don't get me wrong) should not be misconstrued. It reminds me very much of how some property buyers (in the UK at least) assume that the very friendly estate agent is their friend, forgetting that the estate agent acts for the vendor and has a duty to the vendor.