As a note, to "earn" your way into the "new" ff programme, you need to earn 3500 points in a year. Not so easy when you only get 18 points for a one way to AMS at the lowest fare...
Was a little p*ssed too at first, but the free trip to London was nice! I have been collecting for 3 years (Ireland-AMS once every three weeks and was still short by about 400 points for a ticket to AMS)
Really, I dont think it's something to get too worked up over: it was never one of the most rewarding programmes to begin with. Interesting to note too, that not once in that 3 years of flying was I ever offered an upgrade!