Guys,
I believe the ones getting the rough deal are the Circles who requalified in 2005, but didn't make it to HON Circle. Most of these guys would have had an extension of their status thru June 2008. In addition to not getting any extension of their status, they get "downgraded" to SEN.
Requalifying as SEN in 12 months (although 9 months only with Executive Bonus) in 2006 or 12 months in 2007 should be no problem for them. But to get to HON Circle level the first quarter of this year will not help them (as explained below).
For the Circles who made it to HON Circle level the deal is not that exceptional. They get 24 months to requalify as HON Circle, but only 21 months with the Executive Bonus.
Why would they accrue miles in M&M as they will not get Exec. Bonus in M&M till 01.04.06, while at the same time accruing miles in STC will give them the chance of collecting Free Elite Upgrades... which are worth 50,000 miles each if unused by 31.03.06. A HON Circle has to make in average min. 25,000 miles a month, therefore you are talking about 1 or 2, maybe 3, Free Exec. Upgrades, i.e. 50/100 or 150,000 miles on the top of the STC Status and bonus miles...
STC Silver and Gold who have requalified by end 2005 would have extended their status until March 2007, therefore they only get as an additional perk to requalify in either years with the 9 months restrictions on Exec. bonus in 2006.
STC Silver and Gold who had membership till March 2006 and did not requalify at the end of 2005 are the happy fellows who get the best deal, i.e. they would have lost their Silver or Gold status in STC and now they are getting two years of FTL or SEN for free. They will have two chances to requalify as FTL or SEN, 2006 (but with only 9 months of elite bonus) and 2007.