Are we allowed to have a little discussion here about it?

The survey is about buying/selling/trading miles. The final question is "Should users be allowed to do it?"

My view, which I imagine is contrary to many here...

Although many fliers would argue otherwise, I think it's in our collective best interest to *not* own the miles as an asset that we can trade on an open exchange.

The miles would quickly settle on a value, just like any other currency or equity would, and that would eventually lead to accounting, tax, legal, and regulatory implications for everyone involved - airlines, governments, trading firms, mileage users, etc.

It would also likely raise costs of redemption and depress the trading price of the miles, as nearly every mile that today goes unused or expires would be sold to the market and - in theory - to a user who wants them for a higher-value purpose than the market trading price.

As powerusers of the programs, we rely on other users not paying attention to their miles, letting them sit orphaned, letting them expire, or using them poorly. Those neglected and abused miles are what make the international F award available for 125k R/T. If all miles are used well, the best awards will jump in price by several hundred percent.