The article was just plain dumb. He gave no context for his points just some examples to justify his rationale, without any profiling information.
FF programs are not plain vanilla across the board. Peoples traveling patterns or needs are not the same.
When I was a poor college student,trying to get home I was very flexible. I took the cheapest flight regardless of schedule, routing, service etc. The most I flew was 5000mi per year
Now as a businessman who values his time I am very particular about my flights and the benefits associated with the costs. Now I fly 100k+ a year.