I personally value them at 1 cent a mile because they are so inflexible and such a hassle to use. (Former Northwest, current Delta flyer here.) Granted, I can and have redeemed several times for tickets that would have cost much more...but this is offset by friends and family members who have NEVER redeemed a single trip and who have gotten angry, frustrated, and even thrown away ("donated") their miles. Even with the financial crisis, there are people who have more money than time or more money than patience, and for them a frequent flyer mile (at least one as difficult to use as the Skymile) is really of almost no value at all. People who have more time and patience than money are probably a minority of people who travel regularly by air. So there is no puzzle here: my guess is few outside the ranks of dedicated hobbyists/Flyertalkers would value miles at 2 cents per mile. They may start collecting miles with good intentions but the "hassle factor" eventually makes them give up in disgust. Just my speculation...