Well aside from the ethical arguments for or against ff programs, from a pure economics perspective, they don't make sense.

I see all kinds of posts on here about people looking for cheap trips for their year end "mileage runs"--or MR's to maintain elite status.

Now--in a perfect world-economically speaking anyway, the only time that you would get on an airplane for a trip is to--well--go somewhere you need to be.

With the ff programs, now you are getting on a plane for the sake of getting on the plane. On a MR, you may travel far distances then turnaround and get on the same plane to fly back home. One of the posters even asked what to say to crew members if they asked him if he wasn't just on the flight to that destination as he boarded the flight in the opposite direction 45 minutes later.

So that pax common sense is asking--"does doing this make sense"..? Of course, everybody says--don't worry about it--everybody does it.

Hmmm....

And--if you read the threads, the other common theme is the book the least costly MR trip to maximize miles.

So, the airlines have set up a system where by their customers can pick and choose their lowest priced offerings--probably flights they are losing money flying--and qualify for the extra elite freebies that cost the airline more money the next year...

What's wrong with this picture....?

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