Originally Posted by
SFOtoBOS
How is it people have excessive e500s? I just made 2P and haven't yet earned any, so I am broadly reading about them tonight. For every 10,000 miles you fly you earn 4 * 500 = 2,000 miles of upgrade.
So I guess if >80% of your travel is international then you generate them faster than you can use them?
Yes, but also, 1Ks have SWUs and CR-1s which they usually use to upgrade further in advance than e500s work (and for SWUs, on international routes where e500s can't be used, but the SWU when redeemed also gives a "free" upgrade on any domestic segments that connect to the international flight). This typically results in a large number of leftover e500s.
And some people who live in UX/Ted cities, or who live outside of Region 1, have very few opportunities to use e500s, resulting in more surplus.