There's consistently a lot of talk about how many elites CO will lose with their EQM policy, but presumably there are a number of others (apparently none in FT) that are MORE likely to achieve status based on the change.

I haven't done much domestic flying since I moved from the US several years ago, but from personal experience, I'm at least as likely to find nothing better than an H fare b/w GIG and the US than I am to find a fare that only gives 50%. In fact, in a couple dozen round trips, nearly all have been H or K. Based on 150% EQMs for H, it's possible to achieve Gold w/ as few as 3 round trips. The difference between H and K on these trips is typically about $200.

The reasons CO will lose my business are others:

- No more Brazil-US round trips for 35k miles (this was a GREAT deal, since these tix are hardly ever less than $1000).

- Having to pay $200 or more for the privilege of coughing up 25k (was 20k) miles for an upgrade to BF.

The result is probably that CO will have fewer elites among their hub captives, and more among international pax who have more choice of carrier and can rarely manage non HoKeY fares. This isn't unlike AF giving F+ rouge for 40k miles to non-French pax, but requiring 60k for its local market.