Originally Posted by Jammie
Well I went ahead and booked the $68 fare last week. Today, I checked again and seats were available using FF miles for most of the flights for that day

If that's the worst mistake with FF miles you make you're doing ok. 5k for a rdtrp is one of the great deals out there. 5k for a one way when it's as cheap as $68 sort of a pick'em in my book. If I had a ton of miles, i would burn the 5k, if not alot of miles, probably would just pay.
Don't sweat it (and welcome to FT!). After all, you are going to paradise.