YOWgary - well played sir...well played!
These five pages of humour pretty much sum up why I've burned all of my AE points this year! The fun and games of being a frequent flier are over, it's a chore now and there isn't too much left in the big bag of perks and those "myths" are there for a reason...because people have waited hours on the phone or paid insane fee's in "taxes".
The system is broken, and I wonder if AE needs to release this rubbish because people are voting with their feet finally?