Originally Posted by
sbm12
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9630/4.7.1.40 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)
I actually do believe that the stopover benefit is quite closely tied to the one way option. Ask the AA folks if you disagree. They lost the vast majority of the stopover value when AA switched to one way rewards. Most of the other carriers you cited as offering one way awards also do not permit stopovers, including B6 and WN.
So while it doesn't have to be an either/or scenario (BD does still permit stopovers, for example) in most cases it actually is a choice of one or the other.
sbm, I deeply respect your intellect and your profound knowledge of the frequent flier game, which exceeds my own by a factor of many magnitudes.
But sometimes, honestly, I feel that you are afflicted with Stockholm Syndrome. In this case your captors are the airlines, and no matter how outrageous or wrong-headed their moves, you sympathize with them.
AA made this change, and only AA.
As you wrote, it is certainly not required,
a priori.
B6 has one-way awards that are 50% of the round trip awards. Somehow, they seem to be able to survive, despite this show of generosity.
But there is one more question: Why would anyone book one of these so-called CO one-way rewards when they can spend the same number of miles to book a roundtrip?
If they're really just flying a one-way, they'll simply discard the return, or, if not, at least have the option of rebooking the return at a later date.
Why does CO believe that it is a good business practice to provide their customer with literally zero incentive?
Add a premium, sure. Make the one-way award 75% of the roundtrip, or even, let's say 90%. But you
have to build in an incentive.
This type of tone-deaf policy, which has characterized the Kellner tenure, is not only clearly bad for the customer (who would want to buy a one-fer?) but, ultimately for the company, as well.
Making money isn't just about the numbers. There has to be a constant value equation and its concomittant incentives to the consumer.
Without these incentives, any company ends up doing worse off in the long run.