Originally Posted by
dvs7310
Back to the OP, I think continuing with the term miles is fine because (at least for now) status is still earned at a % of miles flown and most overseas partners still are using miles for both redeemable and status miles. For the real frequent flyer the status miles are probably worth significantly more than the redeemable points/miles. That's precisely why Mileage Plus sells extra miles fairly reasonably in conjunction with a ticket but the extra PQM booster is at an exorbitant rate.
What percentage of the general public has elite status or even knows it exists and what it means? My guess would be maybe 2% and 10%. While airlines clearly are trying to cater increasingly to the 2%, the credit cards and other tie-ins for non-flying "miles" are trying to incentivize and get revenue from a much, much wider swath. For that much larger group it's a simpler matter of how many miles/points do they get from doing X, and how many does it take to get the award they want. Things like different counting methods for elite status don't even really apply and would totally confuse people anyway.
It may well be that the way most people learn that a mile flown is no longer a mile earned will be through advertising either from a ULCC or a large points-based credit issuer like CapitalOne (which, BTW, has done wonders for awareness of and getting rid of things like blackout dates).