Threy,

The new program is a copy of NW's WP. Those guys over there dont even get into the lounge in the US with WP Gold and fly up to 74999 miles a year!
They see FD members popping into the lounge with a Silver status they were given somewhere, and believe me, they complain about that. See NW board.

Another point made I have to fully agree with; people flying short haul invest a lot of money into an airline and get very little out of it. Indeed very unfair. I suppose that is why milage runs were invented.