I haven't been driven away from earning points and miles, but I think the big lesson learned from last year was to spend your points and miles soon after you earn them.

Since the value of points and miles can be changed at any time with or without notice, it really exposes people who have large balances. Seeing companies behave the way Starwood does and retroactively announce program changes and qualification requirements (read the Starwood board, they're still not done announcing 2003 changes yet) should be a wake-up call that these things can be instantly devalued overnight.

I used to bank my miles. I used to say to myself, "Why should I spend 50,000 miles to go to Europe when I can just buy the SFO-CDG ticket on a $400 promo fare?" With continued program changes and carriers in questionable financial health (I had most of my miles in UA until a few months ago), I will continue to earn points and miles, but I'm going to make more of an effort to use them quickly before they're worth less than I hoped or perhaps nothing at all.

I also echo people's comments about Priceline. I try to use them whenever possible. I stayed in my share of $27 Hyatts and $40 Hiltons last year. The price difference is so huge, I can't imagine paying 4-5 times that for the same hotel.