I haven't really seen this covered much on the board, so let's get a little discussion going:

How rare (or common) is elite status? Anyone have any official stats, or want to take a guess?

I think the best way to gauge it would be percentages:

1. Percentage of passengers that are elite on any given plane.

2. Percentage of all travelers (we'll say people who take at least one flight every two years) who are elite.

Now, obviously elites are going to be disproportionately represented on any given plane, as they travel far more often than non-elites. So for the first percentage, I'd guess it's about 15%. But when all travelers are lumped together, who knows? 2%? 5%? Let's hear your guesses, or if anyone has any actual facts about this. Is it really special to be an elite?