Originally Posted by
8MiHi
I am not sure I follow how one can come to believe that airlines view loyalty as meaningless when they all have Million-miler programs that provide meaningful benefits for life.
The way I see it they are grateful for past patronage and hope that the past is an indicator to future patronage. It is just that what they see as an enticing emolument in this high density business is not what some of us have thought we deserved.
With respect, I would argue your conclusion is flawed. I've worked in the industry for over 30 years, so I have a somewhat informed perspective on how airline marketing works. You are of course welcome to disagree.
Starting from the airline perspective: Mileage programs exist *today* for one reason only: to generate revenue - not loyalty. Wall Street are focused on ticket revenue, ancillary revenue and cost. Mileage program details do not affect the stock price. The primary source of mileage revenue are credit cards. Airlines sell miles to credit card companies, credit card companies offer miles as an inducement to use their card, for which they get paid by the merchant, and also the not so insignificant annual fee. The only way to maintain that revenue is to create a perception that those miles have value. So they come up with ways to create the illusion of value.
Right now, the primary way that illusion is created is by boarding order. It costs the airline nothing to structure the boarding order any way they like, but it means a lot to some travelers. As I mentioned previously, the airlines have gotten very good at filling empty seats with revenue passengers, so the days of getting a mileage upgrade are rapidly disappearing. They can't go away completely (see need to maintaining that perception of value above), but just like casinos and lotteries tweak the odds of a payout (more smaller payouts or a few bigger ones?), they airlines will continue to devalue awards that have a real cost impact. Million mile status may make some people feel good, but if you can't really use upgrades (because there are no empty seats or upgrades were sold at the gate) and the only actual benefit is boarding first, what's the point?
My view is that I won't surrender my vote on how well an airline is doing by letting their mileage program sway me to by tickets from them automatically. I'll buy the ticket that best meets my need for this flight, be it schedule, fare, equipment, seat space, or whatever. Next week I'll make the airline compete all over again.