Originally Posted by cooberp

Often1--I think the reason why there is a consensus that shifting to spend-based mileage and status is bad is that it concentrates the perks of travel in fewer hands. The people who will accumulate tons of miles and privileges in spend-based programs are precisely the people who can already afford to pay full sticker price for F or J. So they will wind up with a bigger share of upgrades and free flights--benefits they might simply have paid for the old way--while those of us who lack such financial resources or corporate sponsors will travel less and be stuck at the back of the plane when we do. That may well be the profit-maximizing strategy for the airlines, and we can't blame businesses for trying to make money. But I disagree that it is zero-sum for the consumer: the utility lost by people who used to buy cheap long-haul tickets for mileage and status is greater than the utility gained by the bigger spenders who will be replacing them as top-tier elites with overflowing mileage accounts.