This is probably a little silly, but I felt irrationally proud of myself, so:

Yesterday I was driving myself crazy trying to find a cheap flight *within* Europe for this summer. As you know, this is a fruitless endeavor, with hordes of backpackers consuming all the cheap seats, all the way through the beginning of August. The frustration is compounded by the fact that all the little (cheap) airlines have difficulty being ticketed here in the US.

After 3 hours of annoyance, on hold, compromising on where I land (ie. alternate cities) etc, I suddenly remember LH, and being able to use UA miles to book reward seats. In 15 minutes, I've got open jaw travel from London to Catania, Italy (unbelievably close to where I want to go, tickets there are unbelievably expensive) and back from Venice to London. Plus, cost only 20,000.

Silly, I know, but here at least, I'm glad I thought of it -- and I'm satisfied and impressed with how the alliance and the parter bookings worked.

Any similar stories?