Originally Posted by
DrunkCargo
Not sure where to post this, but...
Would it be fair to say that status programs are really equivalent, economically, legally, to bulk discount offerings?
Like, if you buy 50 flights, get one free.
Or if you buy 50 flights, get a few cheap J/F seats.
etc..
I realize various programs have differences, however, it appears there is one commonality: Buy more, get more stuff/discounts.
If there's an existing post/thread on this, I apologize in advance for any proliferation that I'm causing... feel free to merge, rescind, delete, etc...
People don't always like to talk about this, but conceptually the programs were designed to provide a legal form of kickback to business travelers. That's at least part of the original reason that miles are not an asset, property, currency, tradable commodity, or a binding contract to the traveler. (There are other good reasons as well.) The liquid value of all of your miles and points is $0 - and that's by design. They're bits and bytes in an airline computer - nothing more.
So no, legally they are not a discount program or anything else implying a promise of future travel.