Scott says, "As for having no idea how popular it is, I'm not entirely sure where you got that idea, but the concept of matching is indeed more popular than it used to be - simply because more people know that it is possible."

Status matching may be more popular (though I have no way of knowing if it is), but less people are flying, which means there are fewer elites. And how can you possibly make a definitive statement about the popularity of status matching? Do you have access to internal documents at UA or AA or DL? Do you have any remote idea how many members are in each program, or how many are in each tier? You're making assumptions based on assumptions, and they don't necessarily add up, especially when you portray those assumptions as facts.

"I know someone who is on his seventh year of elite status, all based off a single year of real elite level status. It really isn't hard to match away from one airline and match back into them. Tricks like having an international address are not exactly reserved for the smartest people."

I'll repeat: Airline rules say that status matches are one-time-only one-year-only privileges offered to elites from other airlines. Sure there are tricks. But are there so many people utilizing elaborate status matching schemes (including constant international address changes) so as to break the airlines' rules and seriously devalue the elite program?