Need some "Flyertalk" help from my GE brethren. Like I mentioned, I'm using signup bonuses to rack up a bunch of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. I want to use them to buy a ticket to Tanzania for my trip next year. I had planned to transfer them to Flying Blue at 1:1, which is KLM's frequent flyer program, and then redeeming them through Flying Blue for a ticket. KLM operates the best flight from New York to Tanzania. One ticket runs about 130k points.
i'm not a redemption expert by any means, but in my experience i get good value from miles going from minor city to minor city. also using stopovers and open jaws and stuff like that. just going hub to hub in coach on most competitive routes, i think you're going to usually come out ahead using the ur's as currency. is there a reason you aren't trying to book a flight from wichita? using miles, the cost on that is the same as booking out of ny.
premium seats also pay out better in miles.
booking miles, i almost always have to take some weird layover or weird hour to fly or pick a destination that has a lot of redemption openings. like, right now looking for my euro flights, it's very hard for me to find a good flight back from croatia. but if i book a (free) flight from croatia to some other euro city then it's just a matter of finding the city with availability on the date i want.
in my limited experience, star alliance has the best availability. i'd be surprised if you couldn't get pretty good flights with them. aa and delta's programs suck ass comparatively. you can get good flights, but it's luck (or maybe some skill).