Alrighty, I'm getting sick of earning MQM 500 miles at a pop and having almost no chance to renew my Gold status. I have flown 9 round trips with DL so far in 2008, but only have 9000 miles because STL to ATL is a short trip. So, I'm hoping the NW or some other deal comes through and segment recognition occurs.

I spoke to customer service about this. They properly pointed out that a person who regularly flies between non-hub cities will get "too many" segments over those of us who have direct trips, yet the gross revenue for each customer may be similar. So they have decided not to recognize segments at all.

How about limiting segment earning abilities to 1 per day?

I sometimes make round trips in one day, so I recognize this would hurt me in some instances, but the benefit is worth the cost. I think giving folks the choice between status qualification by segment or by MQM calculation (akin to AA) makes sense.

And for you international superstars with buku miles who don't want to lose out to us short leggers, I think a 4th tier is reasonable. The exclusive benefit of the 4th tier would be international upgrades when available within so many hours of check in.

There's my trial balloon. Please fire away.