An interesting thread, and an interesting topic. Some excellent points have been made. A few of my own (which repeat some of the previous points).

-it is absurd to conclude that your points are worth more than the program is willing to sell them for. I'm not saying it's impossible to redeem them for a greater value, but it is unwise to give up more valuable earning potential in exchange for miles/points that can be purchased for less. A good example of this is my main program, Alaska Airlines. You have the option of purchasing 10K AS miles for $190 each time you book a ticket; thus 1.9 cpm. Therefore, if you are using the AS credit card at a rate of 1 mile/$ in preference for say a 2% cashback card, you are overvaluing your miles, and losing out.

-as others have pointed out, it is important to consider what you'd have been willing to pay for a ticket; i.e. if you were spending your own money to get to Europe, and that means you'd pay $700 for an economy ticket, it's a bit of a stretch to claim that you got a $5000 value out of your 100K miles that you booked for a F award. Granted, you got an experience you would not have otherwise had, but you didn't really get a $5000 value unless you would, indeed, have been willing to pay $5000 in the absense of miles.

-lastly, it is important to factor in the lost earning potential of any given ticket, both for RDM's and EQM's...including any online booking bonuses and credit card earning bonuses you may have gained by purchasing or lost by redeeming miles. For me, I've determined that EQM's earned on my primary carrier are worth twice as much as RDM's (totally arbitrary, and possibly incorrect), because those EQM's count towards status, which gives me upgrades, waives baggage fees, etc. You then have to evaluate the relative cost of each ticket including RDM's/EQM's to determine if purchasing it or using miles for it is a better value for you...