AA in CA: One word - whatever.
After all, with Int'l e-savers or web fares, etc., it can be pretty cheap to do a mileage run. No idea if you've got elite status - but for a lot of us, once we have it, we don't want to lose it - hence mileage run. It's a hobby ... admittedly one that makes us spend far too much time in pressurized aluminum tubes. So, to each their own.
And I don't know about you, but a shower after you've been on a plane for a good while is very very nice.