Mark, I agree with you 98% of the time, but this is one case where I do not. In today's day and age, if someone actively uses Flyertalk and wants to get status, they should be able to figure out how to get and keep it. There are so many ways to do so....and if someone can figure out how to get on the Flyertalk US forum to post, they should be able to find other forums, such as the mileage run forum to see many cheap fares, which recently had a $300 West coast to Europe deal.

As a bis gold, the last thing I'd want is someone who was a CP 2 years ago, but last year flew 0 miles and a current Plat to keep me from getting upgraded.

Now if you want to argue about the revenue a pax provides to US, and basing status from that, there's a different story.