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Old Jan 3, 2015, 10:12 am
  #1422  
ffsim
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: YUL
Programs: AC SE (*A Gold), Bonvoy Platinum Elite, Hilton Gold, Amex Platinum / AP Reserve, NEXUS, Global Entry
Posts: 5,690
Originally Posted by ensco
It is not dumb to lose some big spenders if you more than make up for it by increased spend by another big spending group. We obviously have no ability to evaluate this question.
Indeed, we have no ability to properly evaluate this question. That's what makes FT fun -- discussing topics and questions from various perspectives.

The way I look at it is like this: an individual big spender is not the same as a corporate big spender. They're not equivalents, not the same category of customer at all.

I consider the individual big spender belonging to the upper tier of the same category to which the VBIT belongs, i.e. individual customers. Similarly, a big corporate big spender is the same category as a corporate little spender, i.e. corporate/contract customers. In my mind, they're both more important than the other customers within their respective category. In other words, I would keep an SE happy before bending over backwards for a VBIT just like I would keep a Fortune 500 customer happy before bending over backwards for a small company. I'd adjust my offerings accordingly for each category of customer, and when I make changes to those offerings, I think about how my customers would be affected within their respective categories. But again, that's just my utopian opinion.

Originally Posted by ensco
But the constant drumbeat that AC are idiots because they make choices that might decrease their competitiveness to some 70K spenders is tiresome/counter-productive.
When did I say "AC are idiots"? I disagreed with someone who said AC shouldn't worry about a customer spending $70k. "I don't buy it" were my exact words. What's tiresome/counter-productive is having words put in one's mouth.
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