Where on Earth did you get that errant idea from? Miles are valued at MUCH more than 1 cent per mile. The actual monetary value for buying miles on AA.com is 4 cents per mile ($1000 for 40,000 miles). However, the actual value of a mile is usually thought of as between 2 and 3 cents. I use 2.7 cents per mile as my baseline.

Your one cent per mile is almost impossible - no one will give you miles for that cheap, and if you find that out, let me know where you are looking.

Imagine, a Europe coach ticket for 40,000 miles only being worth $400 - No, sorry buddy.