Sorry MarathonMan,

No real new ideas. I thought donation but the naysayers made me thing and I don't know if the qty's we are taking about they take.

Accumulating up to a free ticket and then just taking the ticket...already mentioned. I took this route when I moved from DL back to UA. Using idine or just buying outright.

I didn't see this one (prolly just blind). Aren't there still those mile conversion services? Milepoint or something like that, never really kept track. Couldn't you transfer into common currency and then keep or move to your preferred FF programs. Also can you move to hotel programs? (I haven't really looked at much beyond accumulating with airlines so the above recommendation may be sketchy.)