An Apartment Stay on a Plane:

“I’m about to fly first class on the Airbus A380s of Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar. I’ll shower in the sky on board Emirates from Houston to Dubai and Bangkok-all courtesy of my Alaska Airlines miles. My flight to Doha is on Qatar, and I’ll come home in Etihad’s First Apartment, which is big enough to walk around in. Total cost: $500, 235,000 miles, and 6,000 Starpoints.” – Gary Leff, of the View from the Wing blog

A World Tour:

“For my husband’s 40th birthday we took an around-the-world trip. We flew business class to Amsterdam, Singapore, and the Maldives, where we stayed in a private villa. The trip would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. In total, our award tickets cost 240,000 United miles, plus around $200.” – Summer Hull, of the Mommy Points blog

First-Class to Hong Kong:

“I recently redeemed 135,000 American miles to fly round-trip to Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific’s first class-a trip that retails for $25,000. Cathay has fantastic service, great food (caviar and Krug, what more can you want?), and some of the most comfortable beds in the sky. I used points for a suite at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, which normally costs around $1,000 per night.”- Ben Schlappig, of the One Mile at a Time blog