IDK with airline points I rarely pay for flights. I feel like there are ways around the absurd ticket fares. It requires work though...albeit minimal (aka point accumulation). File your taxes using turbotax? Rather than going to turbotax dot com directly might as well earn 1000 points by going there through the airline shopping mall website. Graduation gift for my kid? Bestbuy directly or bestbuy link from the airline shopping mall and earn a few hundred points. Then there's the airline credit cards of course...Pay bills using airline credit card, pay off credit card each month. Earn points and boost your credit score.