Thank's Efram. I am aware of all the things that can go wrong and have taken those chances in the past but do not consider it a gamble. However this time we have decided it is too risky to plan our whole trip around.
BTW we spoke with the airline in question and they said that once the tickets are purchased the mile supplier has no recourse to cancel the tickets. I asked as a hypothetical as if I was going to be the one buying the tickets for someone else and they said only the person named on the ticket can cancel the reservation. Not sure how they would verify that but thats what I was told.

David