Well, a pleasant surprise in my inbox today with VFF extending my Silver status for another year even though I was about 20 SC's short. I was fully expecting to complete the sad slide from Platinum to Red at the end of this month. On top of the program changes, life circumstances changed a lot over the last 24 months, as did tactics with family pooling to support my partner to retain Gold as a minimum.
I'd resigned myself to the VFF game being over (and it is a game - we should all remember that) and switching to other games like upgrade options and feeling free to book a broader range of airlines internationally. I think that will still be the case even with the extension of Silver, but if circumstances change again, at least I am a step closer to the benefits of Gold.
All in all, a nice surprise.