Agree. But that small number of people only fly bogus mileage runs at ridiculous low price like the one I point out initially - getting 1st class seat to Europe at $750 plus occupying the first class seats domestically all the time.

It doesn't take an expert to figure out the math that no airlines can profit from those mileage runners. So why not eliminating them by changing the mileage accural rule slightly by awarding only "direct flight" mileages on regularly price flight. And no mileage accural for cheap flight.

On the other hand, airlines should take a closer look at the yield management software. Because whatever it is doing, it is not filling up the seats at profitable scale. Maybe some assumption they put into the software are not valid anymore...