I have not yet weighed in on this although everything I will say has been said. I guess If you are keeping a tally of how many think it is a waste of time vs. how many enjoy it, I will give my 2 cents.

ME: I have been a moderate to heavy road warrior. For the first 10 years, it was all short flights (MSP-IND, OMA, LGA, EWR, MCI). Tough to maintain even GM. Now I am flying at least 2x per month MSP-FLL. You can maintain PM with that. I did my very first MR this year (thanks to the good, yet apparently 'sick and OCD' people of FT). So why the MRs?

1) Like others, I really enjoy flying. My MR to IST (for 24 awesome hours) was my first on a 747. I explored IST and determined it might be a nice vacation someday with my family (most likely flying on RDMs in BE thanks to MRs)

2) Status? I'd be lying if I said it did not matter a little. It should not because I do just fine with PM status. I want to hit DM at least once. I'd also love to have that 1M on my tags too. I saw a guy with 7M on his....I wanted his life and experience. In fact, 'Up In The Air' is one of my all time favorite movies and I'd bet most of the MR gang out there feels the same way.

3) My IST MR used a $400 VDB voucher and thus cost very little out of pocket. VDBs are big for me and I take them every chance I get (6 in 2012).

Since I have a family and travel so frequently now, MRs have to be the right deal and not interfere. I do understand and value the time aspect. In the same breath, my wife knows how much I love the adventure of the MR and also enjoys FC, free hotels, free cars, etc. because of my travel. It goes both ways.