But how SHOULD you value miles or points if you ONLY use them to get things that you want (like expensive hotel locations or comfortable seats on transoceanic flights) but that you could never afford to buy outright? Just because you would could never afford to buy them outright does not mean that they have no value, if getting these things without paying $10000 is the whole reason you're collecting points/miles. (In fact, all you have to do is be a tallish person taking one transatlantic flight on ordinary coach to know that there is value, even if hard to quantify because you can't afford its price in cash, in having a more comfortable seat!)

Similarly, there are some destinations (have you priced hotels in big European cities in US$ these days?) where getting the room for points is a much better value compared to using points in many US locations. I can imagine, though, that for many people, if they didn't have points they'd book at a less convenient hotel and have a worse itenerary, so again there is value in booking with points at a place you can't afford to pay cash, but how do you quantify that value if not by the value you would have HAD to pay for it if you HAD chosen to pay cash?