<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ias:
"
...
All we are doing is better aligning "what you get" versus "what you pay".
Increasingly, our lowest fares are set by carriers like Southwest that
offer no "perks" at all. We are saying that we will certainly offer these
fares to all customers, but will not continue to incur the expense of the
added perks for people who only buy these tickets. ...
Thanks,
Ben Baldanza"</font>
It occurs to me that US will get exactly what they are "buying." Fewer frequent flyers...and a lot more competition with SouthWest. A better program would give elite miles to those who purchase occasional (timeframe TBD) non-leisure fares for their business use.
I do not fly US, but would completely change my choice of airline for discretionary travel if elite status was not a consideration.