To macbravery:
Regarding your question, "Am I getting ripped off on these conversions?" The answer is yes if you would use those miles for other airlines.

For example, if you convert 10,000 miles from most airlines (not AA) to Honors, you get 20,000 Honors points. Those 20,000 points only convert back to 3,500 airline miles. So, you've given 10,000 miles and received 3,500 miles back.

However, if you're never going to use the original miles (such as with TWA) you might as well get something for them.