It’s not desperation really, more like what AmEx does to entice me to keep using that damn card for everything… Anyway, Microsoft now offers points of a sort. Here’s where I heard about it: http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/search/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=XPUR4JVLKQ4UAQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=210605109