billcalley wrote:
Since mismatch loss is the "amount of power lost due to
reflection", and is as if an "attenuator with a value of the mismatch
loss where placed in series with the transmission line", then I would
think that VSWR would *definitely* matter, and not just for highly
lossy lines either. But here again, I'm probably not seeing the
entire picture here. What am I missing??

If the system is Z0-matched, e.g. antenna tuner, there is
a mismatch gain at the tuner that offsets the mismatch
loss at the load so, in a lossless system, nothing is
lost. Wave cancellation toward the source is balanced
by constructive interference toward the load.
--
73, Cecil, w5dxp.com