Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Being coincidental is not the same thing as being causative; nor is it the same thing as being the program devaluation decision-maker.
Whatever “drove” the devaluations, the airline management figures were the ones that decided what to do with the programs and to devalue them. Bloggers and the program customer “gamers” didn’t decide to devalue the programs and do so; the bloggers and “gamers” didn’t write and rewrite the terms and conditions of the contracts of adhesion that are the airline loyalty programs. These massive devaluations and official program changes were done by airline management figures, not by bloggers and “gamers”.
Obviously.
As I say, the question is what motivated them to do so.
It seems clear to me that certain airline execs came to view elites as over-entitled and poor ARPU to boot. Where did they learn that from? It is entirely plausible that hundreds of bloggers bragging about mileage runs, CC churning and CPM all over their social media feeds fed into that perception. Before the bloggers, miles and points enthusiasts were a subculture that stayed mostly below the radar. Bloggers got rich taking it mainstream, thereby increasing the potential liability to the companies along with a sense of embarrassment over being 'hacked' by 'travel hackers.' Travesty of the commons and all that.
It is also plausible that in the formerly more competitive US market these same executives could not get away with this race to the bottom no matter how over-entitled those elites became. Market disrupters would keep the big guys honest with more generous programs.
To me, it's most likely the confluence of those things. And some other factors.