Great points, pinniped!

(I wasn't addressing the airline's lack of ethics, though - they clearly have the ethics of a mongoose in heat. I was addressing more how we as individuals wish to proceed...)

Imagine if... additonally... "You can pay x for these bannas, if you promise you will eat them 14 days from now or later, but not longer than 365 days after you eat the first banana and must eat at least half after the first Saturday after you begin; you must eat them in the particular order we state, refrain from selling or bartering said bananas, and must eat every banana in the bunch... If you want to eat a banana now, and only one banana, it will cost you much more than the bunch we can sell you to eat 14 or 7 days out. In any case, we own those bananas, and can and will cojntrol what you do with them, and maintain the right to substitute any bananas, or other fruit, we deem necessary..."

And of course, the "nonstatus" of miles allow us to receive significant beneftis without having to pay taxes on them (other than the usual fees etc. associated with a trip.)