The problem is that one-way J prices are not very good (read: way expensive). One-way EK on LHR-HKG on Expedia's over $3,000 USD... costing more than the round-trip with a Saturday night stay.

(Europe's like that, too. Round-trip in Y+ on Openskies, very reasonable. One way, not so much.)

I would agree that for a lot of purposes AV miles aren't all that, and it's more of a niche product now, since competitive J pricing on roundtrips USA-Europe and Europe-Asia makes dealing with the vagaries of AV's engine and phone agents not so useful. But there are niche uses I could see for them (one ways where you don't want to start in CAI or CMB, certain zones where the pricing is good).