Brendan's estimate sounds pretty close. Do some comparitive analysis with the friend.

Say, for example, the she wants to go to BOS, and that the fare is about $500. If you can get her a Standard coach award for 25k, that equates about $0.02/award mile.

Then, you want to go to Hawaii for a week. A week in Hawaii at $250 a night (I'm guessing) would be $1750; an award can be had for 135k; that's about $0.012/award point.

Don't take these numbers at face value; check some examples out for yourself by doing an award search on CO.COM and the same at marriott.com.

Most of all, welcome to FlyerTalk, and have fun playing the game.

Bob