There has been some comment here on FT (and a lot over on AFF) about whether platinum benefits were reduced in the last round of announced changes.
Thinking about it more I am now coming to the opinion that there has been a devaluation in benefits, both for platinums and bronze members.
This goes back to the issue of earn and burn rates, and in particular the payment of fuel surcharges for award seats.
When we earn points, we are now paying a significant increase over the cost of the base fare in so called fuel surcharges. We are in effect paying extra to earn the same amount of points.
When it comes to redeeming those points, my view is that fuel surcharges should not be payable otherwise we are being penalised twice: we have had to pay extra to get the points, then when we come to redeem, those points should be worth more, and therefore the award ticket should already reflect that we have paid for a 'free seat' with the fuel surcharge already included (and not payable again!).
The recent round of changes increasing status earning kind of reflects the extra fuel surcharges we are paying. We can pay 25% extra on a ticket in many cases 9for international)... and now silvers and golds are receiving an extra 25% mileage bonus.
For us, redeeming an award should either now be 25% more expensive, OR, we pay the fuel surcharge. We have been placed in a neutral situation.
Bronze and plats however were not so lucky. They pay the extra 25% in fuel, receive no extra miles, and then also have to pay the fuel surcharge on an award redemption.
So I think there has been a real reduction in benefits for those flyers...