<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
As for elite miles, the website says that you only don't earn miles on non-refundable fares...</font>
That's not what it says. There is no link between refundable/non-refundable, preferred miles or discountness.
The preferred miles thing is solely by fare class -- regardless of (non)refundability, discount or dollars paid.
The obvious conclusion is that they haven't a clue.