I don’t think you can see what bitrate the spotify tracks are before you download them, but they say that the ‘vast majority’ are 320kbps, with the rest in 256 – I would guess/ hope that all new stuff going up is 320.
Phil – I know, the expiry is annoying! I guess it’s an attempt to make a bit more money from people forgetting to use them. I try and spread out my downloading over the month and download say 25 a week (i tend to buy a bundle of 100 every other month) – then set a reminder on my phone a couple of days before they expire so I can make sure they all get used in time.