I'll add another view point. I travel for work. I had planned on a work trip from ATL to SEA this past fall. My college was playing Texas the weekend after, so I was able to book a stop in Austin on the return, same price as the non-stop. Everything was great. Then my work trip was canceled the week before. I had to use 70K point to book my flight to Austin for the weekend. I was annoyed, but I had the miles and I didn't have to pay cash. To me, even though I was saving them up for a better trip elsewhere, I was still saved by not having to spend the cash when I hadn't planned on doing so. To me, that's a good use of my miles.