Originally Posted by
MTTH
They only target a part of the market regarding the actual frequent flyers. What about the whole market that doesn't fly that often but is (can be) still a loyal customer?
My mom doesn't care/know about all the point programs, yet if the airline would target
her, they would benefit out of this.
Yes, FF programs target frequent flyers, hence the name. An airline doesn't really care if a 2x/year flier is loyal to them. Taking an extra 10% of travel off a weekly, last-minute planning, road warrior is vastly more profitable than 100% of granny's 2x/yr, planned 8 months ahead, flights.
Your mom's loyalty has no value to the stock price. And given that the programs are the single most valuable component of most airlines, I challenge your assertion that they are ineffective.