This should probably be moved to another forum since it doesn't have anything to do with AA specifically, but...

I think there is an important distinction between miles (which the article was focusing on) and status. Efrem made some great points about why status is valuable, and I think that it is indeed valuable on any airline, at least at the top tier(s). But miles are less clear, especially on airlines other than AA. We are a bit spoiled by AA's award availability as compared to other airlines'.