I've quit giving them out after a number of embarrassingly awkward moments where I think I am complimenting someone and they react as if the whole idea is an insult to them by AA. After several conversations with FAs about this I concluded that to most out there these mean nothing other than a reminder of how cheap they think AA can be.
I have had several conversations about these with AA employees, and they are considered worthless, with the exception of very low seniority FA's that need to commute where flights are typically full... the others miss the old system where they could actually get some gifts ordered from a catalog of stuff... and do consider the "downgrade" of the recognition program to be a slight by AA management...
cheers,
dittymau