I can address that, although it's not my post you're responding to. Flying more miles does not necessarily equate to giving more business. Someone who flies weekly OMA-ORD-OMA, for example, is giving UA a lot more business than someone making, say, two round trips ORD-SYD. Of course, this is a fundamental problem with almost every FFP in existence, the assumption that miles are meaningful (for a program to make sense, reward should be based on $ spent and status should be based on number of trips -- not segments, but trips).

My only complaint is that I got the email, and as a former 1P, currently 2P, future non-elite, I don't see any reason to continue to strive for any of the lower level statuses. I realize I'm not in the majority, but I don't give two hoots about free flights; I want to fly in a comfortable seat at a reasonable price (the premium for F, even over full-Y, is far in excess of the increased benefit of flying F). That went down in flames when UDU was introduced and upgrades started going out willy-nilly. So far, I don't see any reason to concentrate on UA anymore except for Channel 9 (I'm not going to buy E+ access for a flight if I can't see the available seats first).