Airline bean counters are faced with enormous "contingent" (potential) liabilities in the case of all those FF miles acquired by both business and "other" travelers. From the airlines standpoint, the liability problem is aggravated by the the majority of FF travelers attempting to use their miles want to fly to the most glamorous or busiest destinations, the ones with high fares (Every FF seat = lost revenues) or the fullest flights (Every FF seat = lost revenue). Their solution, "back*sswards" at best, has been to trim available seats and curtail the lifespan of miles.

Were I counting corporate beans these days (or sitting behind a desk labelled "Marketing" as I once did), my solution would be quick and almost painless....to induce folks to "burn up" their miles and the airlines' liability by filling seats unlikely to be sold. AA has always offered "cheaper" redemptions "off season" (Fall/Winter) to Europe. A smart bean counter carries that practice a double step forward, offering seats on flights with low load factors at deep discounts in points, filling empty seats for the modest cost of on board amenities. For years, premium seats into Milan on DL were far easier to get than those to/from Rome, and I'm sure that there are off season flights into some "Eurogateways" which take off with lower load factors.

As for domestic destinations, take your pick of many of the "medium" non-hub markets. All the down-sizing to RJs involved flights which couldn't fill larger a/c. For those of us who live in the US's "little spoke" airports, awards are even tougher. The Saab 340s here don't have many award seats, but with DFW 2:20 away and IAH only about 3 fours from my door, I'll drive that far for a "discounted" FF seat into an airport to which I would not normally fly.

From my perspective, the problem of the "legacies" and the negative reaction of long time and hitherto loyal patrons to perceived "loss" of FF benefits is a real lack of creativity by the airlines' Marketing Departments. The FF miles are there, and curtailing awards or trimming eligibility time frames are miserable solutions sure to generate hostility in an already semi-hostile environment. Far better for the legacies to find their empty seats (or the empty seats which may be cheaply available from their partners) and fill them with happy campers who feel they are getting a bargain!

(Admittedly copied from a response I made to a post on Frommers, but I think I'll get a better series of answers at FT...)