Use the miles to fly within a foreign continent on your next trip abroad (especially, in light of SkyTeam's relative strengths, in Europe). Availability is often much better, it seems, than within the US. I live in Moscow and recently burned 25k to book a spur of the moment trip (less than 12 hours before departure) an R/T from Moscow to Ajaccio (Corsica) via Nice, combining Aeroflot and Air France (operated by CCM). The ticket priced out retail at close to $1000.