Actually none of this is surprising, given that they have been handing out miles like candy.
To balance the insane amounts of miles they've been dispensing, they've had to balance that by making it much harder to use them, and to require SkyMiles members to use more of them to accomplish the same thing.
I suspect if they didn't toss loads of miles at folks every time they complain, and give heaps of them away in AmEx promos and double and triple MQM bonus schemes, etc., we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
IMO, we're looking at the end result of a massive currency devaluation.