I think it's a challenge to gain all the miles we can when promos are offered and by structuring our itinerairies for the most miles. Miles earned by not flying are very important also and usually come in very samll increments. This is satisfying. When I use miles for special trips like my last trip to Maui 8/28/00 using 75,000 old Delta FF miles for FC round trip for my wife and I I enjoyed the trip but realized that that's a big chunk of FF miles! But what's the point of earning and accruing them if we don't have the pleasure of using them?