Originally Posted by
mre5765
I see. So a *G crediting to LH's M&M should have no status such as free checked bags and lounge access on UA metal and carpet, because most of the miles of a typical SEN were from LH metal?
If UA didn't care how much we spend on SQ, LX, LH, etc. then it wouldn't allow us to accrue EQMs on those flights. I'm pretty sure SQ, LX, LH, etc. pay M+ for each RDM and EQM they credit to M+, and UA in turn pays those airlines for eahc RDM and EQM flown on UA metal and credited back to those airlines. Reciprocity those drives business to UA. If UA did not let me accrue RDMs and EQMs on partner airlines, then the usefulness of the alliance would diminish, and I'd find an alliance that gave me those advantages.
Your idea is pretty bad, and dead on arrival.
All I can say is that once somebody tries this model on a large enough scale the genie will be out of the bottle and all FFPs will quickly follow suit. When that happens the kind of benefit dilution we're seeing now will seem tame in comparison.
The days of using miles/segments as measurements of loyalty are numbered. Millions of people are awash in miles that they can't use and us so-called 'elites' are treated as anything but....