Originally Posted by fractal
I wonder if AA devAAlued the miles because - in some sense - the miles have become cheaper to accumulate via much lower overall fares in the market.
Yeah, I keep wondering why airlines (and it's not just AA, it's all of them) raise mileage requirements for awards rather than reducing the number of miles credited for flights. 1,000 miles earned 10 years ago cost, on average, more than 1,000 miles earned today. But I doubt a round-trip "costs" an airline more today than it did 10 years ago. So if anything, they should be devaluing miles earned today, rather than increasing the "price" of awards (which devalues miles earned in past years when fares were higher).
I know that AA gives CoS bonuses and 50% point credits for low-fare flights, but they still give 100% miles no matter what.