At times like this, it’s always helpful to go back to the phrase that Joe Brancatelli, a longtime travel industry journalist, used to describe frequent-flier programs years ago: unregulated lotteries. We collect miles for years without knowing the odds of exchanging them for a free ticket for a reasonable number of miles. And while Delta gave out millions of free tickets in 2013, there’s no way to know how many people failed to redeem them at all or ended up with their third-choice destination and fifth choice of dates and flight times. Most airlines don’t tell, and they probably never will.

Here’s one other thing Delta is not going to do: tie the cost in miles directly to what the cost in dollars would be. It could, and airlines like Southwest and JetBlue already have. Delta originally planned to do this, according to Tim Winship, who publishes FrequentFlier.com and got an early peek at Delta’s plans. But it changed course, even though mileage earning is now tied to what passengers spend.

Why might an airline not want to make this move? Well, this is part of the game, and it’s a mind game through and through. As long as the possibility exists that someone can take 150,000 miles or so and fly in business or first class to Asia in a seat that might otherwise have cost $10,000, plenty of people are going to keep playing. The fact that many people never earn that many miles and end up dumping what they do have on flights that aren’t ideal hasn’t dissuaded many mile collectors.

“Airline miles have been surprisingly durable in terms of people continuing to ascribe major value to a product that really has had less and less value over time,” said Rob Rosenblatt, who helped develop the Delta co-branded card during his time at American Express and also ran the rewards card business at Chase.

For those who want out, now’s not a bad time to bail. After all, many airline perks, like getting to use a shorter security line and board the plane early enough to get your wheelie in the overhead, are now for sale on an à la carte basis at a fairly reasonable price.

Beyond airline miles, a few other loyalty programs still offer good value. Hotel plans, many of which guarantee that you can redeem your points for a basic room as long as one remains for sale on any given night, remain a decent option. I’m among the legion of card geeks and travel nuts who are still devoted to the Starwood Preferred Guest program (which includes Westin, Sheraton, W and other hotel brands) and its American Express credit card. I regularly get 3 cents a point in value when exchanging my points for hotel nights in high season at certain properties; airline miles are rarely worth more than a penny or two each unless you use them for upgrades on certain flights or get lucky redeeming them for those premium seats to Asia. “There is no near-term plan to reduce benefit options or choices for our members,” said Mark Vondrasek, a senior vice president at the Starwood hotel chain, when I fretted over the program’s future in a phone call this week.