Often Amex has a transfer bonus for MRs-last fall, for instance, for several months there was a 40% bonus when transferring MRs to British Air. I used that for two one way first class tickets to Edinburgh, as well as a business class ticket from Dublin to Orlando on Aer Lingus. I'm also hoping to use MRs for business class when we fly to Australia for one of my tickets. I think if you can time their transfer bonus to a need, it's a great to have MRs. Otherwise, I think the Schwab cash out is a great option, too, because cash is always good