I've used miles for lots of different things:

1. JFK-HAM for a friend's wedding. The flight was going to be $900 and as a grad student 10 years ago, no way could I afford that. Miles for a Y ticket were fab and I was one of the few US friends to make the wedding

2. Gave miles to family for 4 Y tix US-LON for my parents 35th anniversary. I, of course, earned miles on my flight. It was a great trip

3. Gave miles to my brother and his family so that they could attend his brother in laws wedding. They could not have afforded the 5 tix from CMH to Maine otherwise

4. Gave 2 tix to a friend so she could take her sick child to a specialist doctor LAX - DEN

5. 2 J class tix US-BKK for a fun trip with a friend

6. Ticket to my mom so she could come out and take care of me after surgery (no way was I going to make her pay for that!)

7. Ticket to visit my parents in NC at high season. I hate using miles for domestic tickets for myself but couldn't afford the trip at that time and the whole family was gathering at the beach and I didn't want to miss it.

8. 2 J class tix LAX-NAIROBI (coming up this fall) for a safari

I'm sure that I'm missing one or two redemptions.