There's not an iota of new news or insight in either the inflation-erodes-value observation -- which is patently obvious -- or the standard-award availability discussion. This is a well-traveled track:

** Obviously miles are worth less than they used to be; I remember Pan Am domestic awards for 20,000 and Europe awards for 40,000. You can't flood the marketplace with cheap miles and not kick-start an inflation trend. This has been going on for years.

** Standard award availability is totally subjective, but the biggest squawks always seem to come from people who ask for two F seats to Hawaii tomorrow during the week before Christmas, can't get them, and pronounce the program fraudulent. OTOH, some programs have led people to believe they'll easily be able to fly to Rome in August for 50,000 miles when in fact it will usually take skill, planning and luck, so they have a marketing/expectations problem. FWIW, UA and AA standard availability is generally thought to be far better than on CO/NW/DL.