That's a straw-man argument. Virtually nobody on the planet has actual utility for 1M MP miles [I]at once, right now[I]. Tell me where on the planet I can just go walk in and get 1M pennies, or 1M cups of all-purpose flour?

At a lower rate, I can buy 13 75,000-mile Award Accelerator transactions on an Asian itinerary.

Or, most likely, if I have $30,000 to spare, I can call up United, ask to speak with a sales manager, and very likely negotiate somewhere north of 1M miles at the same price.

It's ridiculous to suggest that, at that level, the convenience utility of the W&M offer is worth the cost premium. You have to be very rich, very un-creative, and very lazy to somehow view that as a deal.