It's tempting to work on stockpiling frequent flyer miles and points the way you would save for a child's college education or retirement, but unfortunately frequent flyer miles in particular are subject to devaluations, sometimes massive ones and sometimes unannounced (for example the United Award Chart Devaluation
earlier this year, the elimination of AAdvantage
Explorer Awards with no notice a few months ago; the numerous Aeroplan devaluations; no award chart
provided in advance of the British Airways Executive Club Avios devaluation, etc..)