How bad a deal this is for UAL depends a great deal on how fast they devalue those miles, versus how fast they are used. If they sit around in people's accounts for a long time, and/or get used on what would have been non-revenue seats anyway, then it's a good deal for them.

But when combined with (e.g.) the "Standard Awards on any available seat" offers that seem to apply to almost everyone, one wonders what the impact on revenue seats might be.