Originally Posted by
cepheid
eyechip, consider that the only reason most people fly so much these days is because it's cheap to do so. There is a price to pay for those cheaper tickets which make it easier to earn all those miles... that price is that it costs more to get a free ticket, and availability is lower. If you want to regress 10 or 20 years when "discounted" transcon economy tickets cost $1000 instead of $250, then you'll find that the problem is even worse, namely that the rich can afford to fly often while the rest cannot.
Personally, I'd rather have cheaper airfares with higher redemption levels than regress to the "good old days" where flying was a luxury rather than a commodity.
True. I agree. I have no problem with cheap fares (though I rarely seem to benefit!). But on the whole I think you will find that this is not the problem with the FF programs. It is the affinity cards. 10 years ago, when fares were plenty cheap as well, it was simple and easy to get a free ticket to pretty much anywhere at anytime you wanted. But now the affinity cards have so clogged up the system that I (unlike the lucky few who have posted here) seem to never be able to fiind anything.
Also, in regards to the fares, I am quite happy to see Virgin America starting a program that is based on dollars spent on the ticket rather than just miles. Now that is fair fare!