I'm not convinced the program has been devalued, based on my last 12-months travel with EK, but I only have 1-year as a data point.

Ok, so I've not earned the online bonuses for 5+ years like some others, but after a quick check of travel since Apr 09, I earned 33,000 miles via the online bonus offer.

Hardly anything worth jumping up and down about if you ask me.

I received 25,000 miles for a end of year offer and I personally think that the Miles Accelerator Bonus miles are far more valuable.

95% of my travel is in Y and I will fly/earn 200K tier miles in this 12-month period (Apr 09-Apr-10). I'd like to be able to buy more than 25,000 miles in a year (US carriers allow up to 60,000), would like a far more generous lounge access policy (ie more than 1-guest) and there is absolutely no incentive for me to keep flying EK after I pass the 50K tier mile threshold.

However, in terms of op-ups, I couldnt be happier and EK have by far been the most generous carrier that I have ever flown. I am lucky though that I am based in SIN and I fly routes which have been experiencing high-loads. I am convinced though its all to do with load and Gold status in general, rather than any sort of personal notation in EK's CRM system or equivalent.

There's also probably not as many Golds based out of SIN as there are obviously based out of DXB or LHR.

I often peek at the lounge list when I visit the MEL lounge and there are often no more than 3 Gold's on it.

The sooner they bring out a 4th tier with the appropriate benefits, the happier I will be...