Frequent Flier Miles

What is it about Oct. 5? A year ago on that date, the Lake Tahoe region received an early 4-5 inches of snow. A similar early snow on that same date this year (Wednesday) has triggered hopes of another record-setting La Niña. A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study  found signs of the extreme weather pattern again this year. NOAA will release its official winter outlook later this month . . . . What will the financial turmoil at AMR Corp. - parent company of American Airlines - mean to those with frequent flier miles?

Your frequent-flier miles can be worth from a tenth of a cent apiece to 5 to 10 cents. To get the most for your miles, you must determine the true value of the award item, then divide that price by the number of miles. Here are some approximate valuations. Remember that fares are always changing and that merchandise prices vary among stores and websites. *--* Ticket/merchandise Price Miles cost Value per mile L.A. to N.Y. restricted round-trip $250 25,000 0.010 coach L.A. to N.Y.

You keep hearing about people who take these fabulous trips (see story) and they don't pay a penny - or very many pennies. You have miles, but you don't seem to be getting much, well, mileage out of them. For the last seven years, my life has been all about points. I quit my recruiting job on Wall Street, for which I traveled more than 150,000 miles a year (and collected numerous corporate credit card points), and founded ThePointsGuy.com , a website that's all about maximizing frequent-flier miles and credit card points.

Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco uses boxing as an off-season training method and, Chad being Chad, he's duly impressed with the results. "So when I get in the ring and knock out [Andre] Berto, and people are like, 'I didn't know Chad could fight,' I just told you," he told the Sporting News. Berto, WBC welterweight champion, didn't take long to fire back via BoxingTalk.com. "Chad Johnson, Ochocinco, or whatever his name is, the two of us have been going back and forth for a while behind the scenes," Berto said.

After six years working for one company, I had accumulated quite a nest egg. It was worth as much as $25,000 by one measure, as little as $5,300 by another. The nest egg was not my retirement savings but the 380,000 United Airlines Mileage Plus frequent-flier miles I had collected from business and personal travel. The difference in value goes directly to the question you need to ask yourself before you spend your precious miles.

I enjoyed the article about snowshoeing in the Travel section ["Hey, Waffle Feet, Mom Knows Best" by Sara Lessley, Dec. 11]. Organizations have found that by holding a snowshoeing activity, a nonprofit can organize a successful fundraising event. The participants walk over white flakes rather than walk or run over hard ground. Sue Chehrenegar Los Angeles Pasadena history I am a mystified that Christopher Reynolds failed to mention the Pasadena Museum of History in his close-up on Pasadena ["Marvelous Magnitude," Nov. 27]

A great city for any season I enjoyed the story about Bethlehem, Pa. [" ' Christmas City' Filled With Holiday Tradition," by Karl Zimmermann, Dec. 25]. It's an amazing place any time, and especially at this time of year. I live near there and know the Historic Bethlehem area well both at Christmas and at other seasons of the year. The Moravians have a marvelous, continuing tradition. Donald S. Heintzelman Zionsville, Pa. His own trip globetrotting I howled with glee when I read David Lamb's Dec. 18 story, "A Gift of the World.

Our family Thanksgiving celebration didn't come off exactly as planned. We'd imagined a long-postponed reunion of siblings, aunties and cousins from around the country, gathered at my brother's grand new home in Palo Alto. But circumstances conspired to unravel that plan. Some East Coast relatives were forced to back out by sky-high airfares, unexpected medical bills and budget-choking college tuition hikes. One cousin just lost a job; one is allowed no time off at his new one. Another was grounded by worries that looming foreclosure might make this the last Thanksgiving his family will celebrate in their own home.

There are frequent fliers, and then there are people like Steven Rothstein and Jacques Vroom. Both men bought tickets that gave them unlimited first-class travel for life on American Airlines. It was almost like owning a fleet of private jets. Passes in hand, Rothstein and Vroom flew for business. They flew for pleasure. They flew just because they liked being on planes. They bypassed long lines, booked backup itineraries in case the weather turned, and never worried about cancellation fees.