Originally Posted by MileKing

Interesting thoughts. I don't see airlines eliminating FF programs completely. I do fear that they will continue to tighten-up and probably overdue things, so much so that frequent flyers will conclude the programs are no longer worth the effort. The tightening will occur (is occurring?) in multiple ways so that it will not appear to be too terrible to most flyers. However, the cumulative effect of the changes will be devestating. Tightening will include fewer award seats at "saver" levels, more miles needed for awards, and perhaps fewer miles awarded for flights/purchases/etc.