So here is my take on the EQS thing. For people that can fly between lcc cities that ua does not, it is far too cheap to obtain status. Keys look at stl-mke. Right now there is a sale fare of $44, and a regular fare of $58. Foundering booked at those prices net UA $81.86 and $107.90 after the excise tax has been backed out. That on the sale is $20.41 per segment. Let's call it $20 as some will have discounts/certs. That is 1k on $2000 under the current program. Far too cheap for the benefits. Lccs dominate many more markets pricing today that 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. Now many short haul routes can be very expensive too, but the quick, cheap segment run to achieve valuable benefits at very cheap prices is IMHO way too easy. The revenue based program would rock, and GS in some forms fit this, but the other elite levels, in markets with LCC pricing, need to have the barriers to SWU accrual raised. This is a start in a good direction that unfortunately be bad for some high yield segment flyers.