I wouldn't call getting SE easy. Even it it is , it's a MM the client has chosen to fly with AC.
Anyhow, no matter,wouldn't be a big difference.
I didn't say getting MM was easy. I said it was easy to do it without making SE
20 years at 50K average per year does it. 15 years at 65K. 25 years at 40K. And so on. Most of the non-FTer MMs that I know have rarely, if ever, been SE.
Someone who makes MM has certainly chosen to do a bunch of business with AC over the years, and AC has decided that's worth 50K for life. I just don't see why they should get a different benefit at boarding time than they do everywhere else.