Fun article, and one which shows the dark side of gamification. If you provide points, levels, and leaderboards, people will sacrifice their lives to leveling up for stupid little perks like jumping the line, slightly larger seats, and liquor and snacks that you probably shouldn&#x27;t have anyway.<p>I was one of these people years ago.  I was doing a lot of international business class flights on behalf of a public software company, and had 1k and global services status.  Then I burned out and quit, and spent the next several years barely making premier silver.  It&#x27;s no big deal once you get over your sense of entitlement.  And United has put all the perks up for sale anyway, so you can now buy whatever perk that you can&#x27;t live without.<p>A couple of months ago, I finally made million miler status, which is a kind of &quot;emeritus&quot; status: you (and a designated companion) get star alliance gold status for life.  This is actually kind of awesome since now I don&#x27;t have to worry about getting miles every year to make premier.  I still accumulate points so that I can get free tickets, but being retired from the elite status rat race is very relaxing.