As another angle, I could consider the extra hour of two I spend phoning CSR's trying to find an airline that will let me use miles despite the annoying capacity controls. If I figure out how much money I make in an hour and tack that on, the miles start to lose value.

I see that UA is trying something new - where you get 1 penny for a mile and you can use them when/how you want (for their visa card holders). Still, this stinks because if the miles are only worth 1 penny apiece at redemption time, I would not really bother. This is just about as bad as the "easy pass" or "rule buster" or whatever each airline calls it when they charge you double since you are not within their secretive capacity controls.