Originally Posted by
global_happy_traveller
But at the end of the day, AC could have said ok Tango/Tango Plus 100% but now Elites must reach 50,000 miles or introduce a 75,000 miles like other carriers
You're assuming that the major goal of these changes was to reduce the number of Elites, but it was to reduce costs/increase revenue in general. The savings of not paying 50% of the miles to everyday non-status passengers far, far outweighes the savings of having a few less elites.