Airline Mile Exchanges

I was checking the balance on one of my airline mile accounts and saw one way I could redeem miles was to get gift cards. This led me from American Airlines to a site called Points dot-com. When looking at the programs I can register, I noticed there are three I have that are eligible- Delta Airlines as well as American, along with Best Buy reward zone. It also reminds me how I have a five dollar certificate at Best Buy expiring soon, in a week. So I should print it and use it soon, even if just for music or movies. The last purchase I made, a CD, which netted me just 4 points apparently. So I like knowing I have options as I almost saw it as a burden to have 2 frequent flyer accounts. Though Delta no longer has miles that expire, but American does. So I know I must fly with them at least once every 18 months. It may be best to effectively liquidate the account and move the points or get gift cards to clothing shops or restaurants I go to, or even move the allowable amount to my Paypal account. I noticed my class reunion is accepting Paypal for payment, proof it is in another era now. I haven't flown with Delta since August, when I went to St. Louis. Though I have added plenty of miles since then, from answering surveys, and just added some more tonight. I had to wait a minimum of 30 days until I could dump more in there, so as of tonight there is 500 more. I flew Sun Country to Florida in September, no account with them. And I flew American to Chicago in January, to avoid mileage expiration. I have been cutting back on my travels, though now I am reminded- from looking at pictures when retiring another 'school binder photo album'- that I could have signed up for frequent flyer accounts much earlier. When I lived in suburban Chicago I flew more to see baseball games on the weekends, since my rent was much lower for just renting a room in a house. But I didn't sign up for those accounts until I had moved. Guess it had to be suggested, or encouraged, when making purchases. It was how I got the loyalty card with Superamerica. And I like using it, for food as well as fuel. Though I wait until I have enough points for a Visa gift card, which takes a while. Since they moved to a new program last year, where I had to transfer existing points, I haven't redeemed any yet.