RustyC

Witrh the changes with Delta and United, the programs look much MORE like a kickback arrangement for gaming the system with travel and picking them than they already did. Companies also will be suspicious that some employees might wait to book (i.e. company has to pay a higher fare) to boost the PQDs/MQDs, RDMs or upgrade chances.

But really the DL and UA changes were also motivated as a revenue play, i.e. we don't have as much competition anymore so we don't have to be as generous. Many of their biz travelers are hub captives, anyway. Those who travel infrequently (or even frequently) on low fares are figuring out that the rewards in RDMs aren't very much now.

The real puzzle is why the ULCCs haven't figured this out and don't have better programs. For the longest time the FF program was a competitive weapon used by the legacies against LCCs and ULCCs, but today the ULCCs could legitimately claim to be more rewarding and turn the tables. But Spirit only gives 50% flown at lowest level unless you're a cardholder, and the deep-discounted off-peak awards also are only for cardholders (this on an airline where many of the customers would be turned down if they applied). Mileage expiration is also way too aggressive.

With Frontier a mile flown is a mile earned, but awards are only slightly below the mile cost of legacies and expiration is also too aggressive.

It's also important to remember that FTers are atypical and that the average U.S. traveler either doesn't have a passport or uses it only for cruises or places like Cancun, and if you serve places like Orlando and Las Vegas (or have some way to get to Honolulu for a big-deal trip), that'll be enough for many non-FT people.