Originally Posted by
kokonutz
It ain't what it used to be.
This 1k MM has seen a steady decline in the utility of both miles and status.
1k rooms, paper (and therefore unlimited) upgrades that cleared at time of booking, saver awards on all but a few flights. All gone the way of the dodo.
And now it appears that my airline's ff program is going lowest common denominator all the way around.
Having lots of miles and top status used to be something special. Now it's just something.
The airlines are likely making more money overall, but there is less and less loyalty engendered through their frequency programs.
So be it. I'll take the discounted business fares on whatever airline is cheapest and leave the status on the table.
That's the direction I'm taking.
Things have changed a lot since the mid-2000's (we were able to get CO/DL Saverpass BF rewards to Tokyo - Germany and France in 2006 - 2008 or so - and not in the middle of January either).
As for the poster who got 700k miles. No big deal these days. CO BF is 210k miles Saverpass to Europe - 500k for Easypass. Asia is 250k SP - 600k EP. And try finding any availability on a flight with a lie-flat seat. Robyn