I wish someone would do a study on partner awards for international travel. For example, I would much prefer to use my Northwest or Delta miles to fly nonstop from San Francisco to Paris (and then beyond) than to fly on the metal of either of these U.S. airlines. I am now collecting miles on U.S. Air for the first time. I would never actually fly on U.S. Air metal, but would love to know how easy it is to get a Star Alliance ticket from them to, say, Bankok or Tokyo or Hong Kong, or somewhere in Europe.