More today concerning the relative value of a mile and the purported devaluation, or the lack thereof in this case, from Randy himself:

"... For instance, have you noticed that the cynics of these programs continue to cry about "devaluation" of miles and are so far deep in their own misery that they haven't noticed the success of both American and United's short haul awards at only 15,000 miles? I understand from inside that these both have been extraordinary successes and certainly if you look at the numbers seem to indicate that they "revalued" not "devalued" existing miles. While these 15K awards disappear shortly, InsideFlyer recently wrote and predicted that they will return even by other airlines in 2006..."

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...22#post5135222