Airlines are a bit like the casinos in Las Vegas: They all want to snare the high rollers and would cater only to them if they were able, but there aren't enough high rollers to go around. So they have to attract both the high rollers and the low rollers.

That said, I much favor approaches like AA where they offer carrots to high-fare payers, rather than CO and DL, which take back from low-fare customers. Upgrades get all the heated discussion, but maybe it never occurred to CO that some low-revs might leave because maintaining gold-elite status was also important for protecting 100% mileage bonuses (which are very big if you want free tickets).

My short-term advice would be to definitely vote with your feet among programs if necessary (letting the one you're leaving know why). Would also generally advise burning miles if you can get the vacation time and a decent mileage cost on an award. I would expect to see more "stealth" devaluations like EasyPass and SkyChoice be used before airlines do something as direct and obvious as award-level increases. But it'll probably happen, still.