philforest, most of us here are professionals with very busy lives. However we all enjoy "playing the travel game" so to speak - as a way of coping with all the airline/car/hotel stuff that needs to be get done.
Alternately, we could be like the people who stand at gates and whine about their lives and their jobs - but rather we choose to accentuate the positive - we are getting more ff points and we are among the fortunate few in the world that have the opportunities to travel widely. We can look forward that somehow, somewhere in the future we will be rewarded with a free, well-deserved trip or an upgraded seat.

Admittedly, spending time on this forum or surfing the 'net for specials isn't cost-effective - i.e. I'm sure that all of us here consider our time to be worth at least $30+ / hour - and hence saving $100 by spending a few hours isn't necessarily the wisest choice if practicality is your only consideration. However if you can have fun doing this stuff, then spending the time is worth-while - I feel good that (almost) no one gets a better deal in terms of fares and ff miles than I do. I spend less than a few thousand dollars each year on travelling yet rack enough miles to see all my friends, family and yes, of course, reach the much-coveted elite status. Everyone's got their own priorities - you choose !!!