Actually, last year when United liberalized the MP program by temporarily lowering the qualifications for the elite levels, some FT'ers did complain, bitterly in a few cases.

In my own case, after being a 1P-lite for 2001 (although not by any means 1P for the first time), I'll qualify easily for 1P again for 2002, so it seems to have been good marketing on United's part. Other than that, the point made by beaubo is well taken. There's a big difference between giving people something extra and taking something away.