Originally Posted by
McFlyPHL
... and that's exactly what the idea of qualifying by revenue rewards. So why is that an issue for anyone?
Again, read what I wrote. I said I'd like to see spend as more than just a disqualifier. It shouldn't make a difference to US whether I spend $15k on 50 segments and 60k miles of flying or if I'm spending it on MRs. The whole point is that you want to offer the most benefits to the customers who exhibit the behavior you want to reward. The only losers in a revenue qualifying scheme are the low-spend, high mileage fliers - those who take more out in benefits than they put in in cash.
You said the same as before - qualify on total annual spend - segments/miles don't matter. Which is precisely my point - miles/segments do matter. A low fare purchaser could have more spend than a premium purchaser who doesn't fly as many segments/miles while costing US more. That isn't the behavior US necessarily wants to reward. They'd prefer the high spend few segments/miles customer - spend as little as possible on that customer (few segments/miles) while taking in the most revenue. And that's where trip spend comes in - how much does the customer spend per trip vs how much is spent on that customer per trip. From US' perspective the flyer with the biggest difference is the best customer.
Why the heck wouldn't the airline want to incentivize with a scheme that was 100k/120 seg/ $15k as qualifying thresholds? In that instance, there really aren't any losers.
No losers means ignoring spend per trip - it's just a different twist on what exists now. $15k for 100k miles/120 segments is easy to accomplish - $125/segment is all it takes. It doesn't weed out the low fare/high miles/segments flyer who may be a barely above breakeven customer.
Jim