Very good - I'm grinning.

My wife wanted her FTL renewed because of the priority benefits (business check-in, preferred seating, lounge access). She normally flies on T class fares between UK and Austria, so her *normal* points balance in a year is in the low thousands. It's cheaper for her to top up every two years with a HON run and a trip out to the west coast, than it is for her to pay full fare on the flights to/from Austria.

It would be useful if M&M offered the option that BD's Diamond Club does of allowing their Gold members to purchase Silver membership. (You have to overshoot Gold qualification by 17,000 miles, and used 16,000 of those to buy the silver card). But I suspect that's an "enhancement" too far...