Originally Posted by
Kamiakdad
I'm sure it has value if you use it every month but AS is counting on you to not get a chance to use it at some point during the 12 months of subscription. AS is not in the business of losing money on every flight so it has calculated that many subscribers will not be able to use some of their credits to make this service work. Given the pure volume of flying FT members fly, FT members are not AS intended subscribers. It's like buffets, it doesn't work if every customer eats their weight, it only works if small eaters are lining up as well.
Buffets, or insurance. The irony of say health insurance is that those who sign up for it are often also the ones who are best at not getting in trouble to begin with, the small eaters if you will. Or take something like the much underrated single premium immediate annuity, which is unpopular among those who think they may not live long enough to benefit from it; instead they worry all day and all night whether their retirement savings might outlive them. And as you say, non-FT people don't focus on mileage points from travel and credit cards the way that we do; many happily have one or two cards giving them one penny on the dollar. When that is said, this subscription service probably isn't suited for someone like me, but I find the perspective of it interesting, like a crossword puzzle or a game of bingo, I imagine.