I really wasn't trying to imply that 300K should be qualification for IO or what the actual qualification criteria for IO should be or what it is at the moment.

What I was trying to say (with a little tongue in cheek )is that the jump from 50K to 300K is so steep, that I doubt most people who have achieved 50K will be motivated to actually try and hit 300K. Currently, the biggest issue with the skywards program is that there is little incentive to continue flying EK once you've hit 50K miles. The primary reason for a 4th tier is to 'push' these folks who hit 50K and who have more flying to do (lets say another 50 or 100k)for the remainder of the year, into continue flying EK so that they actually go out and attempt to reach the higher tier. If that tier has some good benefits associated, then that translates to more value for the flyer and because more people will now try to now achieve that tier, more revenue for the airline.

If the bar for the fourth tier is set at 300K then I doubt very few of the folks who are around the 50K+ mark will even try and attempt to go for 300K primarily because their flying pattern doesn't warrant so. And because it is like a pyramid, there are several times more people around the 50K+ mark than there are around the 200K+ omark. If only the 200K+ mark people increase their flying to reach the 300K tier, while the 50K people stay put then it wouldn't have served the purpose - not much revenue gain for EK and only very few people benefit from the tier. Similarly, if the qualification is kept low at around 100K so that most people people who hit 50K also, with just a little bit of more effort, go and hit 100K, then again it wouldn't serve the purpose as all the issues associated with the current Gold will have just moved up to the 4th tier.

My point is this: Don't keep the qualification for the 4th tier to be too low so that most Golds can go out and achieve it and at the same time, don't keep it so high that it comes in the reach of only a select few.