Regarding this specific point, it's always been much harder to get status on LY than on competitors. The idea is "exclusivity," and in some respects, the soft-treatment is indeed better for LY elites than elites on some competitors, but the product officially offered is really no better.

For example, flying TLV-NYC on UA 9 times (one-way) in regular Y fares gets you UA Gold (*G). Doing that on LY, not on basic fares but not on Y/S/M fares, gets you 720 points, not even enough points for silver in the new system (because you get Silver with 700 points + 12 segments, or 800 points in general). And certainly not Gold!

Just how LY, for whatever reason, structures their program.