I think what you are hearing is that even with all of the negative changes people are still finding ways to creatively eke out value from the Program, and that it's far from the worst scheme out there. Is it as good as it was a year ago or over the past 5 years, certainly the answer to that question is "NO", but the value has not been reduced to zero for most people here. If you expand beyond FT and get to the actual 'most people' who aren't as intimate with the program as we are then I expect you will find even more that see value and care about Aeroplan points.