<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gaucho100K:
My point is that its makes no sense for frequent flyers that are smart enough to know how to play the system and understand all the rule details, to expect the airlines (many of which are -btw- in financial difficulties) to treat them like true VIP and extend them all the perks.
Furthermore, I strongly disagree when someone insists that fare savvy flyers that buy the lowest possible fares to accrue only mileage and status in ff programs are the BEST 
customers, and that airlines should do the best they can to not alienate them. Therein lies the crux of this issue....
Yes, these people may have the highest tier in a given program, but they are basically free-riders (in economic terms) and do not constitute the customer that makes an airline profitable.</font>
Gaucho, thanks for speaking some truth here. Fascinating that nobody has tried to put up a logical, coherent argument against what you've said ... because your analysis hits the heart of what's wrong with old-line FT thinking.
Your summary explains why the cockroaches-DLrats-UAwhiners etc. are doomed to fail - they don't deserve to win.
(Though I suspect they'll soon to be joined by disenfranchised pseudo-elites of AA when that line hits BK, I suspect. You can almost hear the whimperings now: "What happened to the VIPOWs??!?!? An outrage!!")