It's designed to look like they are giving a benefit, while not actually costing them much. But as usual with AC PR announcements, it'll end angering many more people than it pleases.

People who got almost 88K (for example) will be annoyed that it could have been so easy to qualify. Those who put in the extra flights (and dollars) to make 100K will be annoyed that they went to that extra work for nothing. Others that would have made 100K anyway will feel that the program has been watered down.

The only group that will be happy will be those in that 12K group. But in any situation where you have to "earn points" to qualify, there's always a big hole in the numbers just below the threshold. The reason is obvious -- if you get within striking distance (say 12K, or one YVR-HKG return) you'd be crazy not to do it.

So the only people who will fall into those "almost" groups will be people who don't understand (or care about) the signifcance of it all. And those people are unlikely to make use of the benefits, thereby costing AC very little.

It could have been a good PR move, a great one even, if it had been made in November. Or October, or even December. But in January, it's just another bullet hole in the foot.