Olivia, I had it a bit easier because I am still Platinum which means no waiting on hold and getting experienced agents that are trying to help. It would be interesting to calculate dollars spent on air with an airline versus the value of award tickets. If you work it right, you can get PM on Delta for under $5000 (as long as you spend $25K on their credit card). I have been very pleased with award travel i have booked on Delta. Except for Kangaroo where it was almost last minute, all my international travel has been at lowest award level.