This wasn't really something I thought much about until back in April when I polished off a *A RTW on UA from SFO to LHR. Curiosity got the better of me while kicking my heels waiting for the lav to vacate and I peaked at the passenger manifest. Now, it was a while back so the mists of time have clouded my memory, but of the 49 or so flying C, something like 25 were 1P or 2P, about nine were 1K and another four or so were affiliated to some other *A carrier and held *G!

Now, I can't vouch for how many were travelling on a redepmtion ticket - at least a few I'd guess - but almost 80% of C as premier members seemed pretty high. Then of course you can add up those on the standard FF levels - probably a few at least.

In any case - a high %-age I reckon would be mileage-earning (over half at a guess in the premium cabins, less at the back).

When flying trans-At or trans-Pac I take *A carriers on account of mileage-earning, even at a price premium (particularly on trans-At where BA would often be just as good an option for me). I also suspect though that the number of people who make a selection based predominantly on mileage-earning is not all that high.

My tuppence worth on a Friday afternoon!