Every carrier is becoming more transactional and the importance of loyalty continues to decrease. Many times pax just don't care about the miles because the fares are so cheap, then next its that they don't care about the lounges because the paid subscription lounges are better or you can access the same ones that previously required a loyalty card with a credit card. Who would have ever thought you would be able to access a LH FCL with an AmEx? Or, you don't care about some orphan miles in EY/EK/QR because they're so much better than your regular carrier and often, the fares are better. Ryanair is bearable because of the things I have mentioned, cheap extra seat, front row, easyJet cards for free exit seats etc. I would rather pay €1500 for a business fare than €2000 with miles. It's with increasing frequency I can find a ticket on another carrier for a better fare than using my miles by my perceived values, conveniences etc. And, given what I just said, I can do without the unlimited potato salad.
The EU has gone after their lovely cash-rich channel of the credit card firms paying for miles which was very important. And to top it off, they want €1000 in taxes and surcharges on your free ticket that is probably available on another carrier (or the same!) as a revenue fare. Once they unbundled we could see it just wasn't premium at all. It's not premium to have a Business Fare and have better food/drinks down the back (like BA CE). They will regret all of this big time and when that time comes we can watch them squirm as they desperately try to show how different they are from the LCC, the ME carriers, and why we should pay more to fly with them for increasingly minimal benefits.
LOT are not too happy with M&M and this could be another step in that direction. The situation has always been really weird. LH are a competitor of LO in a way unlike any other carrier that uses M&M. Forgive me but I think only OU and JP are the others not controlled by papa Lufty? Along with LG, the combination is tiny compared to LO and they barely compete with LH. LO are getting bigger and more a competitor of LH group, LH's dumping on the Polish market is notorious (It's a sea of K fares) and LO are clearly gunning for the tasty German market. I imagine LH would then retaliate against LO like they did with TK on the mileage earning...
Already they offer special promo awards for the PL market which are a fraction of a M&M promo(-show me a LH promo Y return for 7k miles with no YQ). It shows that it really isn't compatible with LO and given the generally low price of LO tickets I can see Polish Members will feel hard hit by the changes.
I just hope LO don't exit Star.