Considering what the ticket cost (AP site says $141/ticket for me in surcharges, or less than most domestic redemptions net of bag fees), is a hundred or two bucks for a hotel room unreasonable?

I think its easy to lose perspective on the net value (ie: avoided cost of revenue tickets) of a good redemption versus a trivial outlay such as hotel rooms.

It may not be "the good old days" without fees, but then again, air travel is dramatically less expensive across the board.

IMHO, the big rip-off is when someone books a mainline revenue or award ticket, only to see it Rouged.