travelcomments

tried to use an elite choice $ 50-off e-certificate for lax-sfo. flight is far out in the future, no availability issues.

the result: well, not entirely zero... only 1 out of 13 flights is eligible (mid-day, go figure). i never had this situation in the past - not sure what others' experiences are.

this is similar to last year's 10%-off promotions which seem to result in a re-setting of the base price, negating any discount.

probably legal, but borderline deceptive. and certainly insulting to (premium) customers (this was an elite choice reward).

i am sure we will eventually see a harvard business school case study on the dumbest approach to customer loyalty building. it will probably called "friends of glenn, and other horror stories".