Well, the problem with promos like this starts when we realize that many of those who used to requalify the "regular" way won't be so naive to try that again. They will always wait for the next promotion (I'm confident there will be one of those again)

This is what should be meant by real revenue erosion and not really how many crèmes brûlées a Cessna HON™ will devour at the FCT/L during each one of his raids...

The question, of course, is whether we're smarter than "shortsighted people with LH who don't realize this". To set your minds at rest (well, kind of), the answer is "no we we're not".

But apparently, LH is cash constrained (OK, time to sell ) and needs money now. And how beautiful it is to have the option to (partially) "borrow" cash against a liability whose terminal value is fully under your control... You can always enhance the program and, boom, your debt goes down by as much as you want.

So, I guess, it makes perfect sense for both sides: LH can't count on anyone's loyalty nowadays to partially secure medium-term liquidity, for the simple reason that nobody's unconditional loyalty can be thought as "given" nowadays.

And no, it is not the small/large/medium influx of new Cessna HONs™ the factor that will lead to the devaluation of the program. I'm afraid the decision on the devaluation has already been taken deliberately. So the new "price" of around 10K should also give people a clue about the extent to which LH is willing to commit to "HON service as we know it".

So at the end of the day mileage/card/status junkies get their black/gold card and LH takes the money and runs, uh, flies. And everyone is happy and remains so as long as the meaning of "no promises on the one side, no hard feelings on the other" is fully understood. OK fellows?