i don't travel anywhere I don't want to be for elite status, but I have valued the benefits sufficiently over the last 25 years or so to take an extra trip in a couple of those years to somewhere I wanted to go in order to keep elite status. As those benefits have diminished, I have assigned less value to them, but I still find it worthwhile to have some status in a couple of alliances. The difference between an exit row seat and a seat with 30" pitch is for me substantial; I do not have time in my life to wait for a checked bag after every flight so I value early boarding; and while I am experiencing IRROPS handling far inferior to what it used to be, when a flight gets cancelled it's very helpful to have my phone call answered within a few minutes. And yes, I too, have had a few op ups on BA and have enjoyed using my diminished SWUs on AA. But everyone has different travel patterns and different priorities.