Randy, can you clarify the quote attributed to you:

Instead, he suggests that people with large balances book a trip maybe nine to 11 months out on a partner carrier such as United, Delta Air Lines or Lufthansa.

"If US Airways survives, as that date gets closer, you can pay your $40 and put the miles back in your US Airways account," said Petersen. "If they don't make it, you've got something you can use that far out. It might be better than having nothing at all."

Are you suggesting that if USAir liquidates, that other carriers will honor award tickets booked with US miles? My understanding was that reimbursement for these tickets occured at flight time, not in advance, so you would be asking these airlines to basically fly you for free.

Or is the slight chance that out of the kindness of their heart and an attempt to build customer goodwill in hopes of future business better than nothing (i.e. a 2% chance vs. a 0% chance.)

The flip side - what if you have a flight booked, the carrier won't honor it because US is gone, someone takes over the US program and transfers your existing miles, but you've burned them all on the now worthless tickets and the taking-over carrier does not provide a re-deposit option?

I know the final answer is "nobody knows", but I'm interested in information/knowledge you may have that others don't. Especially with 1M+ US miles. And waived re-depoist fees.