Originally Posted by
Swanhunter
I would agree that FFP's are much less prevalent. You can do an unscientific survey by peaking at people's BP's. Most in the US show a number, not that many do in the UK. My personal take is that it is down to being a much smaller country, 'Europe' being seen as far away until recent changes in the political (European Single Market) and travel (growth of LCC's lower fares) environment. Previous to that, much travel to Europe was by charter airlines rather than scheduled.
Interesting comments about charter airlines and LCCs -- that is of course a factor that I hadn't taken into account. However, I'd be interested to see what studies BA made in the run up to establishing their FF program, and then what other studies they made when they decided to turn it into a high-fares-loyalty program instead, several years down the line.
It would seem to me that BA did have an opportunity to encourage the interest and increase the motivation of the UK market in making buying decisions based on FF benefits, but either the market didn't bite, or they weren't generous enough to make it seem worthwhile. Perhaps it was really a combination of the two?
Being brutaully selfish, I am happy with the status quo, otherwise we would see more miles chasing a static to declining pool of inventory and consequent award inflation.
Nonetheless, people seem to say it's easier to redeem on AA than on almost anything else, and AA is more generous in awarding miles than BA, in general.