I agree with the post that stated there has to be an apparent value to taking the time to participate in the hotel/airline programs. If you can't make others see it, or if they simply don't care, hey... neither do I. More upgrades for me.

My situation is a little different in that I travel extensively but work for a company that is so unwilling to part with any amount of money, it's a running joke with their employees. We are only reimbursed our exact meals up to $30/day and are asked to keep our hotels under $80/night. Expense account? HA! Everything goes on a personal credit card and is reimbursed. So you can see where a hotel credit card benefit adds up for me. An extra 10-15k points every month from the credit card alone definitely pays off. My first ever overseas trip was entirely paid for with HH points - granted, it was coach, but I still went to Paris with my girlfriend and scored a room at the Paris Hilton with a balcony view of the Eiffel for 6 nights... FREE. And my Diamond Status got us access to the Diamond Lounge with free breakfast. A good start to a day gets even better when you don't spend money for your first meal...

Further, for someone who spends 200+ nights in a hotel, it's worth it to me to belong to any hotel program I can get my hands on that will allow me to get a little nicer room, especially in a budget location like a Hampton or HIExpress. No one on my ceiling, a view of something other than the AC unit or the parking lot, a fridge... these little things are coveted by the traveler on the cheap such as myself. The traveler who goes 5-10 nights a year I'm sure couldn't care less or would just pay a little more for the little bit better room.

I only recently attained elite status with an airline that even HAS assigned seats and first class. Let me tell you, that first free upgrade felt like a taste of heaven. I can't go back to coach... you can't make me. And since a lot of my travel is short-haul (DEN-PHX is pretty standard) I've started booking flights that have connections, just to get the extra miles/segments (a stop in LAS on a Sunday afternoon can really be entertaining, I can always tell who lost a LOT of money by the thousand-yard stare). I can totally see, however, where a frequent business traveler who isn't interested in spending more time in airports/planes would think I was crazy. But again, it's worth it to me.