While I agree that one card vs. seven cards is attractive, I think that I have the same problem with this idea that I have with alliances. Airlines are in business to make money. One way they have tried to do this is by building customer loyalty through ff programs. But as a result of the way they have structured the programs, they have (at least IMHO) become "entitlements." The programs have taken on a life of their own. What makes me so nervous is that the further an airline gets from its individual program, the easier it will be for a cost-concious ceo to slash ff benefits without direct reprocussion.

If the program is run by a ff consolidator, United could say, hey, its not US cutting the benefits, its the ff consolidator, go take it up with them.

Furthermore, as far as I am concerned, there is ALREADY too much collusion going on among the airlines. Allinaces and a universal ff card might just cement the oligopoly of the airline idustry.

I guess my bottom line is that I want to make sure that the ff programs continue to benefit the individual airlines as much as they do us. Because otherwise, the programs will be scaled back or disappear.

I have made this same point to UMP (as a premex AND a shareholder) in an e-mail that was never acknowledged. If someone here can tell me how an individual airline's bottom line benenfits from a business perspective from ff allinaces or ff program administration sharing, I'd love to hear it, because it would make me feel a whole lot better about these trends...