Thanks -- quite convincing! I'm slowly sorting out the difference between mileage brokers (e.g. executivetravelservice.com) and what claim to be bulk purchasers (e.g. accessfares.com). I'm guessing that I'm safe (other than the usual issues of a business's reliability) with a bulk purchaser/discounter although (again apologies for being a newbie here) the discussion threads seem very heavily oriented to fare deals direct from airlines. Any wisdom to offer me there? Thanks.