I hafta say I was generally unaware at first. Was savvy enough to sign up and get the miles credited, but getting to 20 or 25K for that first free ticket seemed some distance away when I would get maybe 4-5K base miles a year. It was enough to get me to pick airline A over airline B if fares were the same, but I would pick vacation destinations first and then figure out which airline to take.

I actually earned status without really knowing it on CO back in 1992 by taking them several times during the great fare sale of that summer and fall. What finally got my attention was getting upgraded to first class on a trip in early 1993 totally by surprise. It was the first time I had ever flown up front. That prompted me to read through everything and start trying to figure out the elite programs. Double miles and threshold bonuses seemed like a real "best kept secret." I guess it still is.