I am E50 this coming year, for budgetting purposes, my company just gave me an annual summary of my expenses. What I found interesting was, I flew 68 segments for a total (including taxes fee etc.) spend of $37k with AC, all within North America. Compared to a colleague which did some international travel, he qualified for E75 with spend of $22k. The main thing is that he did 4 Asian T+ loops for around $15K spend.

I am just curious if anyone know the logic of why long hauls are much more rewarding from a status/$spent or points/$spent perspective. It would appear to me that the short haul flyers need to spend quite a bit more to qualify under segments than long haul flyers qualifying via distance travelled. Are the long haul flights that much more profitable to AC?

Just wondering because I am feeling a little short changed as a segment qualifier. The taxes and fees may be the difference but the difference feels huge.