Of all of this, the substantial upgrade to the Million Miler program surprises me the most. For decades now, driven by bean counters, it has been about "what have you done for us lately?" and Million Miler really meant very little. Miller Miler was not impacted, positively or negatively, in the original changes rolled out in September.

If no changes to Million Miler had been made as part of this "Oops" retrenchment, no one would have noticed.

Yet, they made a major upgrade to the program -- when they didn't have to.

It's puzzling. I think that perhaps, just perhaps, there was a standoff between bean counters who have been running the show forever and non-beancounters who took a position that loyalty really should be rewarded. For once, perhaps, the bean counters were shut down. This would have to come from the CEO level, I would think.

Happy for the change, I am -- although if indeed Choice Benefits are not part of the deal, it sours the happiness a good bit.