hey LEB,

I too spent a lot of time building Excel spreadsheets to calculate miles, q miles, per segment, per q mile and per total mile costs. I've got an Excel sheet that works fine too (no macros either). It even gives you 500 miles for flights less than that. I'd be happy to share it if anyone's interested.

However, the best tool I know of for solving "I wanna do this..." challenges is a piece of software (I'm in no way affiliated, nor do I benefit from the plug) called Informed by Shana.

You build a "form" from scratch, with your own fields, calculations and embedded formulas, design it so it presents the way you want it to, and then save it as a template. Then you just create new "records" for each itinerary you want to check. I've even built in a formula to check the airline flown against the elite status my partner and I each hold to calculate elite bonuses. It's great. I have another one I've designed to track frequent flier accounts (YTD miles, lifetime miles, etc.). Your imagination is the limit with this one.

Don't know how much it sells for, but I think there is a demo available. Definitely worth checking out!

Oh yeah, I also have one that tracks my dining in the four iDine programs I belong to. That way I know what's outstanding and unfortunately, how much I spend a month in restaurants just to get miles (eek!).