ClimbGuy: I agree with you about the point valuation. I would never pay for a LD sleeper and certainly wouldn't value my points used for one as $1000 or more. However people will certainly think that they bought a ticket that, had Amtrak sold that ticket for cash, is valued at $1000. So if you look at what Amtrak is analyzing, then Amtrak redeemed 20k miles instead of $1000 from you (the customer). Based on that calculation, you redeemed your points for a high valuation.

Do you recall reading in the miles forums about people asking what the most expensive ticket they can book using the 25k miles. People replied that the OP should go visit a place he actually wants to go to. Some people just want to redeem for the most expensive ticket possible just to get the "best value for their points".

I will say that I'm nervous of the overhaul of Amtrak's booking system. You might start seeing capacity limits for reward tix. A recent article in the WSJ discussing the new high speed trains was showing that the odds are against amtrak in being chosen as managing these new trains. That's a bit unusual considering Amtrak is similar to a quasi governement company (like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).