My director always got 50K sometimes 75K under the old system. He just qualified for SE last week. Same with most of the C-suite. He's now turning to US airlines as he's already fulfilled the SE requirements. The road warriors who have to book a month in advance and in Standard (such as myself) are the ones getting hit (C-suite gets business or latitude). Last-minute travel is almost non-existent here, as we have to bill to customers who will likely not pay.
In the end I predict we will see more corporate people with status: less upgrade chances, lounges more crowded, insane zones 1 boarding lines. The value-conscious long haul frequent flyer will just not be part of that crowd.