I agree with you vsevolod that eRewards sucks, at least when it comes to earning miles. Personally, I don't pay much attention when doing a survey (I multitask) and give it whatever answers I think it's looking for, and eventually the money racks up in my account enough for a redemption - I definitely think it's un undervalued currency, though.

Some exceptions: The Borders $15 for $15 in-store credit that was around last winter (the new 3 x $5 sucks, since you can redeem it only once per month, so forget about getting a book for free). And, the FTD $25 for $25 gift cert isn't bad - I've redeemed it and have paid only a shipping charge for some gift items, which would have been full price on AA's FTD site (with the only difference of earning a couple hundred miles on AA).

I was being sarcastic when I said I value miles so highly. But, I usually stick to a maximum 2 cent per mile value in my head, in terms of what I would buy them for. The actual value of those miles is a lot more, at least 3 cents, based on the somewhat remote airport I fly out of with AA. Tickets are always extremely expensive, and as long as I book far enough in advance I can get tickets reasonably easy and for much less than their retail cost on AA.com

Point is, I just don't care for Kathy too much, and I was getting carried away. Sorry to get you riled up. eRewards does suck, but it is useful for SOME rewards...