Yes, but ... the finance guy inside me looks at this and wonders who is "losing". The bottom 40,000 players got something for free, so they all win. I don't change my behavior, so I win. Canadiancow does change his behaviour but has analyzed the game and wins big - and I suspect everyone in the top 30 wins. So who loses - those in spots 31 down to 200 or 300, who spend a lot of money but don't get into the big points of the top 30? And if they don't lose, the only party left is ... AC.
Perhaps everyone can win, including AC, if as you suggest seats are sold that would otherwise be empty. But as noted by several posters above, the MAX issue means there are fewer empty seats in the system than in previous years, so the upside to AC seems limited.
Actually, I do modify my behaviour in one respect: I've got some trips coming up for which I'm holding off booking so that they can count towards the contest. But it doesn't cost me (or my employer) anything.