I have very limited sympathy, if any, for this kind of whingeing. (Same as with the thread we had a couple weeks ago from a DM who claimed the new redemption chart is "gutting" AsiaMiles.)

The rules for upgrading are straightforward, and IME it says pretty clearly on the website whether you're buying an upgradeable fare. The TAs I've used have always either known that right away or been able to check pretty easily when I tell them I want to be able to upgrade. So I've never understood how people can then claim to be taken by surprise by the rules.

I do, however, think people are tending to lose sight of the point of a loyalty program. At the end of the day, they work best for truly frequent flyers. Someone who needs four or five years to rack up enough points for a reward of some sort probably is not traveling frequently enough for it to be worth worrying about a loyalty program. That infrequent traveler is better off booking by price each time s/he travels, no matter the carrier. While the carriers are obviously complicit in encouraging that traveler to play the loyalty game, it's his/her own fault as a consumer for getting taken in.