Agree w/ others re: value of elite status if you're typically flying paid F, and I suspect AS may look to do some sort of end of year "buy up" for folks to keep their current status level. I saw news this week that AA will allow their members to maintain their current status level by either earning EQD of $2k or credit card spend of $15k.. Maybe AS won't take that approach, but they know some are having a harder time than others at requalifying.