Thanks for the answers.

Gift cards don't seem to be an option with my card's program. I again looked through the merchandise options and didn't find anything I wanted.* I don't expect to be able to make use of any of the travel related benies anytime soon. So I opted for cash in the form of a check. The check will go into my little mad money (former eBay buying) checking account.

I'm a bit sad because I doubt I'll ever again be able to accumulate enough points (before they start expiring) to get an airline ticket award.

* There was a DVD set for the equivalent of $82, but Amazon has it for $30.