I think people are comparing apples and oranges here.

If two people have 300,000 miles each in their accounts, and one can say "these are all from flying with you" and the other can't, perhaps the first can get better treatment.

However, that's not the usual situation.

I'm going to fly about 102,000 miles on AA and its partners this year. I'll get about 230K miles from flying (2x on everything plus a few more bonuses) and another 120K or so from other stuff, total around 350. Will I, or should I, get worse treatment than someone who earned the same 230K from flying and no miles from credit cards and such? I think not.

After all, it's not as if I will fly more to make up what I could have earned from credit cards and thereby reach the same total. My flying is what it is. Anyone who flies enough to earn 350K AA miles in a year from flying alone ought to get better treatment than I do - but why would it hurt that person to have another 100K or so from hotel stays, phone bills, and restaurants?

This is, of course, only logic. When one is talking to a human being, whether an airline reservation agent or anyone else, logic isn't always the determining factor. If saying (in effect) "I deserve special treatment, because I never use any of those partners you keep asking me to use" works, go for it.