I wonder how much Amer Express pays for those miles. I would bet less that the real value. Hence - we are seeing the levels go up.

CO used to have special reward levels for Plats (non-capacity controlled). I do not think the idea is too far out. CO Plats earn the miles by flying. Giving Plats a perk of lower levels - is very reasonable.

There might be a few business owners that are Plat and get lots of business miles from Amer Express - but I would say that is a small percent.

I know people who never buy a ticket and have no status and always fly FC. They use the zillion miles from their credit card used by their business. Are these really good CO customers - are the miles really worth that much?