Originally Posted by iahphx
I don't know, but when Southwest can win "program of the year" after imposing capacity controls on its reward seats and taking away bonus credits, something is very wrong.
The fact that they also came in 3rd for "best elite program" -- when they don't really even have an elite program -- also leads me to wonder.
Capacity controls started in mid-February 2006, whereas the Freddie voting is based on 2005. The online booking bonus died in 2005, and that was a major devaluation. My best guess is that the other programs deteriorated in value even more rapidly than Southwest's, and that Southwest's program pre-2005 was very generous to short-haul flyers so it had some value cushion. Check out the Freddies thread in the Southwest forum for other observations, some of which may be new to you.