Originally Posted by
luv2ctheworld
Let's be pragmatic about this... the reality is if you are a FF, you are likely flying for business, and not for leisure. Which makes loyalty secondary to operational requirements (since you are traveling for business after all, and it's likely the company footing the bill). After awhile, you build up enough miles/status that it becomes hard to fly other carriers because the perks are getting more valuable.
That means those who fly AA/UA/DL fly them because it works for them; and unless one is hub-captive, pledging loyalty to a single airline can wane when the redemption/loyalty side of the equation starts to become increasingly marginal.
At some point, you'll want to cash in those miles, and it will be a rude awakening. I know of several friends who went through this exact scenario... flew DL and liked DL... until they tried to take the family on a vacation using points, and started wondering what good were all those miles when it was costing twice as much to redeem as the other airline their coworkers were flying on. They compared notes and said screw it, went for a challenge and went with another carrier.
There's an easy solution: choose your flights based on operational requirements, and understand that the rewards are just auxiliary bonuses on top of that. From the parts of the world I can see, this is how most people operate. I'm including both the many 1-6x/year leisure travelers I know as well as virtually all of my colleagues who travel weekly or biweekly.
I actually find that all of the people I hear who are leaving one airline or another aren't doing so because they couldn't find an award using their miles - it's because the airline "wronged" them somehow (IDB'd them, lost their luggage, had rude CS, etc. - all operational instances). Even then, when the airline they are leaving has a nonstop flight at the right time for $100 less than a connecting flight on the competitor, they seem to get over those past experiences very quickly.
I haven't seen people here argue that FT represent the majority of travelers. Sure you get some hyperbolic posts predicting DL's downfall will come as a result of SM devaluation, but those certainly aren't the mainstream of FT - it may strike a chord and stick in your mind, but it's on the fringe.
My advice: don't be amazed by people making decisions you don't agree with, life's too short to get stressed about that. I live in a state without a motorcycle helmet law and see lots of these guys screaming down the freeway, locks a flowin' (well they're usually bald) - at first my reaction was 'continual amazement' but eventually I realized there's nothing amazing about it. They were given a choice and they made it. Stupid choice? Perhaps. But why the hell should I care.
You're probably right. For the record, my amazement doesn't stress me out at all. It's more entertaining than anything - similar to how I'll still occasionally stop for a few minutes on the cable news channels to see what kind of mess is being spewed out there.
