<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Law Lord:
This generalization will have many exceptions, but my sense from past discussions on FT is that the majority of frequent flyers collect miles mostly for upgrades, and the majority of infrequent flyers collect miles mostly for free travel.
If so (and UA's marketing department must know), and if UA is serious about wanting to lure back full-Y passengers, would it make sense for UA to limit mileage upgrades (not free tickets) on international flights to P, PE, and 1K members, and reduce a little bit the competition for the C seats?</font>
that's a fine suggestion! probably too sensible for airline management to comprehend.
of course, the frequent flyer often chooses upgrades because the freebie ticket earns no miles. maybe the airline could experiment-- increase redemptions for freebies (thus reducing ffm liabilities) by allowing them to earn miles. the mileage-price of freebies could even be increased, to compensate.