It's using FF miles that makes it tough. Hubby used to travel 1-3 weeks a month. Did it for 12 years on American. He had amassed a million miles at one point. He started traveling in the early 90s, when the airlines were much more flexible. We flew first class to Hawaii, Alaska and some other destinations, but never used the miles for buying a coach ticket. The VP of Marketing at my company flies constantly on United and what they make him go through to use his miles for a coach ticket or an upgrade is ridiculous. Toss in 9/11 and over-the-top fuel prices and the airlines are penny pinching any way they can. But we deal with it because there are places to go and people to see that sometimes just aren't feasible by road.