Originally Posted by
Catbert10
As I see it, the problem with the revenue based programs is that there don't seem to be any barriers to regularly raising the revenue requirements. There seems to be market resistance to raising the mileage requirements, which is why increases were relatively rare. Not so much with spend requirements. From the introduction of the spend requirement over at UA, there has been an approximate 40% increase in the 1K limit from the original total to the Pre-COVID, no PQF total.
They will raise it as much as the market will tolerate. All of the talk about loyalty is just marketing at this point. What they want is your $$$ because they airlines are public companies responsible to shareholders. And honestly they probably aren't wrong. Delta has a terrible redemption value but the product and service was solid so business flyers flocked to them. Heck I hated Delta for a long time but precovid they were heads and tails above AA or UA and started getting my money. I left US after years as 1K/GS because of the terrible service, but they have improved so much that I've taken my first UA flights in over 5 years. Flying a plane with seat back IFE, good wifi, and decent food with friendly service really makes going back to AA's "modern" oasis planes pretty hard, but AA had me locked into the loyalty program until AS joined OW. Now for 2022 and beyond I can move anywhere since covid delayed my business flying. Not many benefits to elite status these days with easy award cancellation/refunds, easy changes, etc so if you are flying premium cabin might as well pick the nicest experience and best routes.