Originally Posted by
Weatherboy
And this is why I raised the point. If no other carrier had a lifetime program for long-time elites or major mile collectors, I could completely understand CO's need to simply maintain year to year loyalty. But the fact that all of the other carriers are offering something suddenly makes CO less desirable to be a long-term elite with.
We're also talking about a reasonably small population here: 4 million miles is a lofty goal that would take even the most creative "$2k/yr platinum" years to achieve. There's probably significant drop-off along the way to 4 million miles (or some other lofty total), so the risk to CO actually having to offer some time of long term benefit is unlikely.
Great points. Frankly, I see only gain for Continental to offer an elite-for-life similar to the DL program. If CO set a goal of elite-for-life, I believe that some--perhaps many--FFer's would strive for it. I suspect that rather than hurt CO, it would drive activity. I may not be typical, but if there were an elite-for-life program, I wouldn't even consider stepping on another carrier. I wouldn't be happy if I couldn't generate 300 or 400,000 EQM's a year on CO. Full fares help that effort!