It's taken a while for the changes to sink in, and we're only guessing at DL's reasons for making some of the specific changes they made. Given that these changes only really impact the FF's (noted somewhere as 3% of the total number of PAX?) would it not have made more sense for DL to simply;

1. Raise the price quietly on K fares across the board by up to 10% (route dependent), which would have caused some grumbling, but most of us would have swallowed.

2. Enact the changes for the qualification process but leave the benefits alone.

3. Reduce the number of promos that generate HUGE mile numbers.

I really think BruceB and the others at DL underestimated the reaction to having to sit in back on DL's planes for 75% of our travel.