It baffles me why people don't understand this point. Have many FTers never opened a newspaper? Have they not read any of the press releases from the airlines detailing huge drops in revenues and yields, all of which mention sizeable decreases in business travel? Are they so completely clueless that they couldn't figure out that all the double EQM/MQM promos or things like UA's fly now, get a discount in 2010 likely reflect a drop-off in elite ranks being seen by the airlines?

I don't want to make this about the OP, but this topic is simply tiring. It, frankly, comes across as little more than an opportunity for some folks to a) whine about a missed upgrade, or b) to somehow paint themselves as better than the guy sitting next to them or higher up on the upgrade list.