Hi Doug~ We just (for the first time) did the AmEx 2 for 1 for Magnifica class on Alitalia Miami to Rome. Even though I (almost) had enough points to do this with ff reward ticketing, it just didn't make sense. First or bus class to Europe is almost the same point requirement as to much of Asia. I rather save my points for a future Asia trip!

And yes, you can often find cheaper business tickets other than using AmEx 2 4 1, but the big advantage for us is that these are fully refundable...and for a small fee changeable. Our trip is 6 months out, so the flexibility was worth a lot to me.