I for one agree with the basic premise that AC has gone way too far in the pricing difference between T and T+ on these fares. To me it's more than just an issue of fare buckets, it's how much more you now have to pay to get the benefits of the loyalty/status you thought you had earned.

I earned my SE largely through paid int'l J; I'm fortunate to have a job that allows that. But I would like to get some benefit when traveling personally, e.g. upgrades. Now AC is saying I have to pay several hundred $ just for the chance at an upgrade, or even to get preferred seating?

AC is gambling that enough people will bite at the T+ pricing levels, but I'm not one of them. Moreover, there is now little incentive for me to stick with AC on my paid J. Frankly, in my opinion AC does not have the best int'l J - they're not bad, but there are many better, especially on the soft product. Same story in int'l Y; AC is seldom my first choice if the loyalty incentive is gone.

I realize AC has big financial problems, and apparently they believe this is part of the answer. My take is that their losses are the end result of poor decisions combined with poor execution, and this is just the latest example.

AC - if you want to capture more business and more profit then improve the overall product offering; i.e. the sum total of hard product, soft product and loyalty incentives. The strategy of raising prices while offering less doesn't sound like a winner to me.