From The Times of London:
Ban air miles and stop frequent flyers, urge climate advisers
Air miles schemes should be banned because they encourage excessive flying, according to a report commissioned by the government’s climate change advisers.
The ban would affect millions of customers of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and other airlines that have loyalty programmes. The report by Imperial College London for the Committee on Climate Change says that frequent flyers, who earn the most air miles, should be targeted as the government seeks to meet its emissions reduction targets.
It recommends “regulation to ban frequent flyer reward schemes that stimulate demand”. There are more than 220 frequent flyer schemes worldwide, with an estimated membership in excess of 200 million. A survey in 2017 found that 15 per cent of 30 to 59-year-olds in Britain were signed up to at least one frequent flyer programme.
The report says there is evidence that frequent flyer loyalty schemes are particularly damaging because they can result in people taking extra flights to “maintain their privileged traveller status”. It says that some people undertake “mileage runs” or “status runs” for the sole purpose of ensuring that they retain higher-tier membership of a scheme, and that some frequent flyers regard membership as being “related to status and social identity”.
More:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b...sers-522gdkdwn