Hopefully this will be a more allowable version of the converting miles into $ thread.
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460666

CO miles can be converted to Amtrak, which offers gift certificates, some of which are like cash to me. What other possibilities are available?

For example, buy transcon during massive sale for $130-200. Earn 12,000 miles. Convert to Staples card. Buy $120 in office supplies. Or Xmas presents.

I was thinking about this after recently cruising the Amtrak website, because I value my miles at 1.25 c/mile or higher, and haven't tried any of these gift certificates yet. If our airline miles devalue even further in the next few years, maybe gift certificates will be the way to go.

I usually save my miles for coach tickets domestic & international (1.25-1.75 c/mile) and emergency trips. With the drops in airfare, I rarely see trips where I can use my miles at 2+ c/mile.

Lately AA/CO/DL/NW/UA have required 50,000 miles for last-minute travel plus $60-110 extra fees ($50 CO, $100 AA) = $685-985. At that price, I'd rather cash my miles out and just buy the tickets (which also helps me maintain status)...so I haven't used my miles for emergency trips in a few years...only for trips I can plan well in advance. I've been keeping at least 50,000 miles on 5 airlines to have maximum possibility of booking a last minute trip at 25,000 award levels, but the last few times I called...I struck out on all the airlines. Time for Southwest tickets I guess...

Hotels were a great way to use airline miles in 2002, and I used to convert into Hilton. But priceline has become a killer way to get fantastic rooms, especially with the help of BiddingForTravel.com. For next week's conference, the 15,000 pt/night Cat 4 San Francisco Hyatt Regency would be a decent use of miles at $215 regular rate ($252 after tax). But it was only $78/night on Priceline ($92 after tax + fees)...and that's around double what I've paid for most domestic 4*s in 2004-2005.

Scored the $450/night Pan-Pacific in Singapore for $42/night. Usually the 4* business hotels (30,000-40,000 Hilton pts) where I stay are going for $30-40/night on Priceline ($40-55 after tax + fees = 0.1-0.2 c/mile), so I don't use many hotel points for stays anymore.

https://www.amtrakguestrewards.com/

Amtrak (1 c/mile, $50 certificate for 5,000 miles)
a) Staples (office supplies), Barnes and Noble (books), Home Depot
b) Macys, Bath and Body Works, SpaWish, Sharper Image, Sports Authority
c) TGIF, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Ruth's Chris Steak House

Amtrak (1 c/mile)
a) $100 Hertz (On vacation, I usually rent inexpensive $15-25/day cars)
b) $100 Ritz-Carlton (good at some other hotels)

Amtrak
a) Movie Tickets (4 tickets for 2,500 miles) - 6 different chains (1.3-1.9 c/mile for $8-12/ticket)

Amtrak
a) 25,000 miles for 1 week Hertz Rental (versus 32,500-37,500 miles at Hilton)

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Here are my non-airline favorites (valuing hotel rooms at Priceline, AAA, or other lowest rate available)

Hilton (CO -> Amtrak -> Hilton)
a) Old ALON award at HHV (2.4 c/mile, $1,200 AAA-rate for 50,000 miles, $3,000 rack rate value)

Amtrak
a) 2,500 mile for one-way one-Zone travel like BOS-NYC (2.5-4.5 c/mile?, $69-109???)

Magazines
a) 3,900 miles for 1 yr Economist (2.0 c/mile - $76 subscription magazines/ebates, $252 newsstand)
b) 4,000 miles for 1 yr Harvard Business Journal (2.5 c/mile - $100 subscription mags4cheap.com , $203 newsstand)
c) 1,200 miles for 13 wks issues Wall St Journal (2.9 c/mile - $35 subscription magsdirect, magazines/ebates, $64 newsstand)