Originally Posted by
QueenOfCoach
There was an article on CNN.com a few days ago. The issue was a complaining passenger. A frequent flyer complained about delayed baggage, etc, so many times that the airline shut down the frequent flyer account, deleted his elite status and told him that he would receive no more compensation for any complaint he may have in the future. This is not the same as Hidden City violations, but it is an example of a frequent flyer account being shut down at the sole discretion of the airline.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/16/travel...ml?hpt=hp_bn12
Not directly related, but I'm always interested in court cases that involve FF miles. The passenger is claiming that an airline shouldn't be able to take away miles that have been accumulated. If a court determines that the miles are tangible property - an asset owned by the passenger - it could have some other unintended consequences that aren't all in favor of us, those who accumulate the miles.
It's a bit ironic...but we do get *some* benefit from the fact that miles are not currently considered our property or any kind of exchange-traded currency.
The CNN article doesn't really explain the passenger's 24 complaints - other than to say that 9 were for "delayed" luggage. Is the guy complaining about 20 minute delays or about cases where his bag arrived a flight or two later than he did? Hard to pass judgment...I'll just say that I've only checked bags 3 times this year and twice the bags have been delayed by 12 to 24 hours. One was a simple nonstop where I checked in 2 hours early *and* had mid-tier elite status in that alliance. So I can see where a guy who flies 75 times and checks bags every time will have some issues. The entire airline baggage handling process seems badly, badly broken throughout the industry.