Wow dbaker you really have a hide to be posting what you have here. I went and had a look at "ITYT, which is the fastest growing travel community on the Internet" as I am always open to new ideas and concepts. The only airline I presently have any deep knowledge of is UA, so went to visit your UA forum and if you are indeed the fastest growing board based on that link, the guys in last place must be quite something! Less than 1 post a MONTH average since October from other than you is hardly Grand Central Station.

Back to the topic thread - I think the "insurance" is only paid by the PrivilegeFlyer company if an airline plan goes TOTALLY out of business right? When was the last time that happened with a MAJOR carrier plan? Chapter 11 does not get a payout, nor an amalgamation or a plan takeover by another airline - correct? So right there the scheme looks pretty much bullet-proof based on a long industry history of much financial trouble, but few total collapses of a major flyer scheme. Which is all most of us want to protect against - correct?

And I recall you get to redeem basic flight awards equivalent to what were already booked or in your account, but not upgrades? They could be booked by Randy's people on Southwest or Jet Blue etc if needs be, as long as they get you there and back within 24 hours of original flights. And of all the folks who insure, the number of plans would be widely spread among them, so if US Air went bust tomorrow and no-one picked up Dividend Miles (highly unlikely) it would still only represent a VERY small % of all folks registered. I am sure they have had an actuary look at the figures, and a risk cap of $7,500 (*retail*) for $119 p.a. premium looks pretty solid on first glance to me. (But note I am in no way in that line of business, and that is an opinion only.) A very large number of folks would have rushed into this in Sept/2001 so that money has not been paid out by one cent - agreed?? My house and contents insurance policy cost versus sum insured is geared literally 10 times higher than this math, and the exposure/risk is actually higher I suspect. On that basis even self-insuring here would NOT be too risky an option IMO.

And what is not apparent until you read the schemes covered is that it ALSO covers your points in all the major hotel plans and even schemes like Amex Membership Rewards and Diners Club. I would have close on a million points in Starwood/Hilton/MR alone. But Starwood/Hyatt/Ramada/Marriott etc are not going to go out of business are they?? Hmmm, well isn't that what they thought about Enron?

For $119 it is cheap peace of mind IMO.

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~ Glen ~ (edited for HTML)



[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 05-15-2002).]