True. But we’re talking about mileage awards.

22,500 miles for $179 WJ flight isn't exactly good use. Such awards are normally even below $0.01 per mile value. You are right, it is indeed ridiculous as to how poor value it is. (Though, of course, on some select routes there may be the occasional sales when the value is actually good, as in considerably above 1cpm. Usually it's just in X, though there have been the occasional O awards on DL itself also that are high, but not super extremely outlandishly though (as is the norm).)

You are right. EOS (End of SkyMiles) is something DL was specifically hiring some 10 years ago, so EOS has been long known to be coming (where EOS means basically 1 SM ~ 1 cent, price tied to revenue fare). There has been plenty of time to switch one's mileage earning to other programs, as many have done. (For me, the last SkyMile earned was a few years ago. But the SM # is still useful given the "lifetime" ST E+, to use for non-mileage-accruing bookings at least.)

ROUTINELY, I beam $.01 per mile on trips to Flordia. No, they aren't especially expensive with cash but still offer a good value. I have seen them as low as 7,500 and trust me, the cash price never got close to $75. I got almost $.02 on a trip to LGB last month. Of course, there are "bad" deals but there are plenty of good ones too.

Also, Delta Vacations is fixed at higher than $.01, although I forget exactly what it is....maybe $.013? Having said all of that, 22,500 for a $179 flight is still a trade, in my circumstances, that I am willing to make since I have a lot more SkyMiles than I do cash.

WS awards aren't currently fare based. They have 3 levels, but they are entirely based on advance purchase, 60 day = 12.5K miles, 21 day = 15K, and no AP = 17.5K. So you will definitely see a lot more variability in terms of value (as below). Although revenue fare inventory availability on WS coded flight below is considerably better than the DL coded version (H bucket), the award value still represents about 2 CPM with WS coding of flight.

TPAC and TATL awards to/from US/Canada on other partners used to also have fixed 60/21/0 day AP levels, but DL did away with those about three years ago and just started using the cheapest applicable DL metal levels on partner metal bookings on these routes. These vary not only by O&D route and advance purchase, but also things like seasonality, roundtrip booking w/min stay vs. one-way purchases, day of week travel, etc. These requirements follow revenue fare filing requirements and you can find them in both revenue and award fare rules on delta.com.

DL still has fixed levels on partners where they do not touch US/Canada soil as DL does not have any fare filings to base award levels on these routes. Perhaps one day they will come up with some scheme to implement fare-based awards on these routes, but at this point, they don't have one.

I got what I thought was a decent deal redeeming SkyMiles: for 58,200 miles I got an open jaw main cabin ticket CLE-DTW-LHR / CDG-DTW-CLE, plus $97 in taxes/fees (the cash price on this was over $800). I upgraded the eastbound TATL to PS for $400 cash (they want $780 for a westbound UG to PS, which seems silly).

Had I done a RT returning from LHR, the taxes/fees would have been $204.

I'd like to hear more about you earning almost two cents per mile on a DL award ticket to LGB. Based on the fare at the time of purchase?

When nothing was under 25K, there was availability at that price for fares that cost way more than $250.

For the portion of DL flights that are under $125 one-way, having the mileage ticket tied to the price, as DL now has it, is a good alternative. For the flights on DL that are more than $125 one-way, the value proposition and ability to get outsized value for your miles have disappeared. I would venture to say that the vast, vast, vast majority of DL tickets cost more than $125 one-way.