Originally Posted by
nocharge
I agree that it would be hard to to use anything else. All I'm saying is that the credit you get is not for "actual miles you spend in your seat." It's likely to be slightly less.
"Actual" flight distance would be an operational nightmare to handle; I can just imagine the number of FTers dialing up UA (and other airlines) after every single flight arguing the flight distance for a few extra miles. Notwithstanding IRROPS, having a standardized measure is practical and fair.