Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Also, we have already seen less miles chasing flight awards this year and yet the rewards are not getting generally better. If anything the major airlines in the US seem to have continued to drive down the value that the customers get out of the miles chasing flight rewards.
To be fair it has been a mixed bag. I have had no difficult redeeming UA miles for high value awards (i.e. TATL business class in summer). OTOH we are all aware of DL's massive hike to the cost of partner awards (with zero transparency, like everything else at DL). But in general availability is very good right now so long as the planes are empty.
Originally Posted by
Kagehitokiri
credit card signup bonuses are not going away, and are major factor, chase does NOT prevent churning like amex does
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some believe the Chase 5/24 rule is even more draconian than the Amex 1 bonus per card per lifetime limit. Personally I am delighted when churners and manufactured spenders are weeded out as I refrain from gaming the system