Originally Posted by eyechip
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1. I will stop giving two hoots about elite status. ...
2. Fly whichever airline provides the most convenient schedule, with the least stops, at the best fare, for any given flight I might need on a particular day. What a novel idea. Thinking about me for a change.
3. Support now and than the small start-ups in my home market. ...
4. With the money I save from my lack of loyalty, this willingness to just buy a ticket with whomever offers the cheapest fare, I will thus be able to use my windfalls to buy a first class ticket to Bangkok ( or wherever) on any airline I choose with my little pot of savings. ...
5. Never, ever, ever, again will I fall for the romantic idea that any airline actually gives two hoots about me and my silly little business. Like a jilted lover, I am sooo ready to play the field.
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You expressed my own feelings very well. I came to the same conclusions, especially re: UA. I try to avoid them now but hope to be able to use the MP miles one day.
It is also the right time for corporate travel and T&E to put their foot down. Let them emulate Fidel and Che. I believe the only thing supporting the FF programs today is the willingness of companies to reimburse travel on more expensive tickets. Granted there is some insurance value in using a carrier with lots of flights in order to make changes - but most travelers really can be more flexible and can work around fewer fights. If executive flexibility is really that imprortant get a company plane.
Come the T&E revolution THAT will get the carriers attention - and support the little guys. (The T&E people will just have to get past the revolutionary tantrums from their flyers as this hidden subsidy is taken from them.)