Originally Posted by
zombietooth
If the above is true, why do bis miles matter to anyone at UA anymore? It truly is rewarding past behavior.
Why did they ever matter before?
Lifetime status programs are aspirational. Yearly status is transactional. It's always been this way; the only thing that the new system has done is call that into sharp relief.
The cost of granting status to someone who doesn't fly is near zero. There's no particular reason to cut the lifetime program. I don't see them retuning it toward years of status in the program, either, because the tiers just don't work out. 1MM = 20 years of Gold (assume 50K BIS yearly). 2MM = 27 years of Platinum. 3 MM = 30 years of 1K. And 4MM = ?? years of GS.
A million miles sounds like an achievement. 20 years of Gold status sounds like a slog. It's just not great marketing.