Originally Posted by
Pizzaman
So, why eliminate something a customer earned but might not use when the act of taking back what they've earned might cause them to go elsewhere?
Maybe someone having earned miles years ago from credit card or other spend isnt really a valuable customer for the airline? It costs money to have active memberships where the members are no longer (or never were) customers - eg save on material mailed/emailed, cards, etc.
Plus of course the airline/FFP benefits from the reduced liability. Both directly and also indirectly (if mileage balances are lower then less pressure for the airline to reserve lots of award seats, thus they can sell more revenue seats).