Originally Posted by
bafan
Maybe I am weird or atypical.
I fly BA for the BA product, not the reward scheme, just like I would shop at Tesco for the groceries, not the reward points. If I hated the product I wouldn't stay simply for the rewards.
I don't think any one of us would (well nobody outside of the UA forum, anyway).
Everybody wouldn't pay more because they like the product; a fair number of people will, but for the others, a loyalty programme helps. And where it really kicks in is in making people book a flight from a less convenient airport, at a less convenient time, with a connection instead of a non-stop, or even a flight they wouldn't otherwise have taken at all, out of loyalty to an airline.
And Tesco, of course, know that their loyalty programme doesn't make us an iota more loyal. They are paying to learn about our shopping patterns, not for our loyalty.