A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Berkeley, CA USA
Programs: Piggly Wiggly "Shop the Pig!" Preferred Shopper
Posts: 57,066
Epilogue: my friend cancelled the reservation, but the miles did not revert back to my account. They just sat there in the canceled reservation along with the $. I called in and the CSA told me that I'd have to pay the redeposit fee of $200 to get them back. I did that.
And BTW, I was mistaken about 15K miles -- it was actually 20K miles, which made it an easier decision to pay the redeposit fee.
Thanks for the advice, folks.