For me it's starting to unravel. Have been earned gold or higher on one airline or another since 1992, but this year I may well only go silver. Unredeemed miles peaked around 400K in 2001 but are down to around 120K now. Have been burning faster than I earn.

Part of it is fatigue with all the security measures and other additional hassles of recent years. Part is over-familiarity with some of the domestic mileage-run targets. Part is irritation with excessive taxes and fees on airline tickets, rental cars and hotels; these tend to discourage the more frequent short-haul mileage runs/getaway weekends in favor of longer hauls.

But the airlines really get the brunt of the blame. Too many takebacks, too many new fees, not flying up front enough, uncertainty over bankruptcy and, with UA, problems with online booking and bad sale fare availability. Also too many RJs, taking upgrades out of the picture. The value of both the elite status and the FF programs continues to get chipped away at, as travelers get nickel-and-dimed to death. It's all playing into the hands of the LCCs, who continue to gain market share.