Originally Posted by
bubbashow
NO it doesn't! The average flyer clicks on Kayak and picks the lowest price. Period. The cross section of people on FT and similar sites is nowhere near representative of the general flying public. Stomp up and down, throw more press releases to the NYC - hell on a slow news day, they might pick up another, but it doesn't change the fact the average passenger DOES NOT CARE.
+1
And even for many FFs, the miles and redemptions aren't even the most important part of the FF program. I maintain my DL status for a lot of other benefits of the Medallion program.
Originally Posted by
bubbashow
Yet....despite all these low-rev gamers stomping their feet, the profits keep rolling in.
YES, the economy will change in the future. When it does, these low-rev clowns will be EASY and cheap to buy back.
Get used to a healthy airline industry. Good for DL, good for stockholders, good for the business, good for passengers. The only people it is bad for are the folks that game and those that don't pay a profitable fare.
I was with you up until the last statement in bold. It's not my job as a passenger to determine if my fare is profitable to DL or not. DL was willing to sell a fare at that price and so I bought it. Now if DL doesn't want to reward me the way they used to, that's fine and I can get the business decisions behind that. That doesn't mean I'm "gaming the system". It just means we're paying the published fare that is set by DL that meets my wants and needs.