Originally Posted by
TWA Fan 1
I agree that this program will only apply to very few and effectively benefit even fewer.
On the other hand, it is possible to fly a lot of short, expensive segments and spend a small mint for relatively few miles.
I fly a lot of EWR-YQB, a route on which CO has the exclusive non-stops.
Fares are commonly about $900 rt. That's 882 EQM's roundtrip.
Assuming you flew only this route and it always cost $900 rt (I know it's not realistic, but it is possible), you would have to spend $76,500 to earn 75,000 miles.
Ouch.
It is very possible to spend $30k/year and not be upgraded every flight, as you mention. Lots of cheap coach tickets plus a couple of overseas BF flights will do it, too, in addition to your routing, above. What this does is make it much easier for a PP on a cheap ticket to get an upgrade. How valuable this is depends entirely on the travel pattern. The rest is nice, but still not up to the level of being a Delta Platinum Medallion member circa 1999.