and also replying to your earlier:

They make it binding by saying that if you use their program -- whether it's a credit card, mileage program, or computer software -- you are explicitly agreeing to the terms and conditions that are in the fine print.

And saying, well, I didn't read the fine print ain't gonna get you very far in a court of law. Of course, the fine print can't violate the law. But as long as it is legal, they can enforce it and you have zero recourse.

That is why it is so important to read the fine print!

No, that is why it is so important to know what is legal and enforceable and what is not!

The point several have been trying to make is that whether it is written in fine print or bold letters, for a lot of reasons, much of what is written in FF programmes is NOT legal and NOT enforceable.

What is useful is to discuss just what parts are reasonably enforceable, and what parts may reasonably be challenged. We can make a best guess, but most of the time we won't know with certainty until there has been a challenge and a court ruling. The wording in question that the FF programmes can change any of the rules and conditions at any time has been challenged and held unenforeable in the past by courts.

What airlines, and lots of others who include similar wording in contracts, hope for is that those reading such wording will believe that it is binding and effective, and even if they don't agree, will find the cost and hassle of challenge too great.

Bruce