[QUOTE=flyatlanta][QUOTE=John Galt]If "everyone" booked 8 possible vacations while they made a choice, the value of ALL frequent flyer programs would be devalued, as customers would decide that they were useless.
This behavior would not devalue frequent flyer miles, it would merely change the way award inventory is distributed. To some, the availability of "last-minute" awards is far more valuable than the availability of "330-days-in-advance" awards. People are still only taking one trip (and paying 7 redeposit fees).
What do you think about a friend who books four or five refundable tickets, and only uses one, but has a reserved seat on every flight leaving the city so he can leave whenever he has completed his work? His assistant doesn't like this much!
This is spot on. Airlines are constantly tweaking their formulae for revenue management. If it becomes the norm for ff's to cancel more award tickets a few weeks before departure, the airlines would in all likelihood increase the number of award seats available far ahead.