Maybe this was some of the motivation behind the "Double PQM to Select Cities" promo. If you're gunning for status, you'll pay a little more for a flight that gets you the PQM, and once you've got status on an airline, you're more likely to fly that airline. Even if it's low status, it still gives you a better chance at an upgrade and other perks than an airline where you have zero status. Building some loyalty among elites based in BOS (B6 territory), STL (WN/AA), SAN (WN/UA) and so forth might be a clever way of making more money and filling up seats without having a sale. Just a guess, though, because I've got no clue how they decided which cities to put on this promo!

Maybe PIT is on that list to help keep people away from WN even if they're ticked off at US for pulling back operations so drastically?