Lets see....
My million mile run alone.
1) ~4000.00 in airfare.
2) the Memorial Day weekend in 2000.

What have I gotten from that one trip?

1.) Coach Rt IAH-PHL. (Est. $250.00)
2.) 2 Coach Rts IAH-AMS AMS-MNL and back. To see where my Gramps was in WWII. (est. $1900.00 each.) (Talked my way into Business Class on MNL-AMS, He was 82 yrs old and had never been in business class. Needless to say he LOVED it.) Real value is being able to take that trip.
3.) 2 Business class RTs IAH-CDG (est. $1700.00 each) Sent parents to Paris in style.
4.) Week's hotel in NYC for Mom, Aunts and Grandma. (Transfer to Hilton) (Est. $2400.00)

Still got ~500K left.

Yes. It took time and a little persistance.
Clearly I am ahead.

Also, my rule is: Price being equal, I go for the miles. Otherwise buy the cheaper product.

BSL