In your book, you said that using frequent flyer miles for free tickets was a waste and that they would be better used for upgrading to first class on paid tickets. Generally I agree with you, but what if your goal is to fly the Concorde? I'm a Delta Silver Medallion member with about 60,000 miles to go at this writing before I can meet the 200,000 requirement for an Air France Concorde roundtrip ticket. Since I don't want to spend $5000 on an AF Business class fare (the cheapest way you can get an upgrade to the Concorde, and even then only one way and only at certain times of the year), it seems like racking up the miles is the only way I can break the sound barrier. Any hints?

Dear K.R.,

You are right; miles toward a free flight on the Concorde are a great use of miles. I am using 400,000 miles to fly my wife and myself to Paris. Using miles for a regular flight is not wise. However, with respect to the Concorde, the only way to fly is by paying a substantial sum of money or by using miles. This is a situation where ancillary miles really pay off, because it doesn't matter if the miles you cash in for a Concorde flight are base miles or miles accumulated via a credit card or one of the many other means of earning miles. Now that you're Silver Medallion, go for the Gold!

Thanks for reading the book and your great question.

--Joel