philforest

James:
Let's be very clear and up front: You are NOT getting anything for nothing. "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." You paid for those miles (along with all the other travellers who aren't members of Sky Miles) in increased fares. If we didn't have FF programs,fares might be lower by two or three cents per ticket.

Beckles

phil ~ But by taking the miles and using them, we are in effect getting a better deal, because as you pointed out, the miles are paid for by all passengers, but not all passengers take advantage of this. If all passengers did take advantage, the fares would likely be even higher!

james

Well Phil, it's a matter of opinion. You are certianly right that somewhere, somehow these things are paid for. However, in my opinion since I accumulate miles because I fly and not vice versa, my ff awards are a bonus accrued at no additional cost to me. Noone has the option of saying to Delta, 'I am not a SkyMiles member so please give me a 2% discount', thereofre I might as well take what's coming to me. As I live outside the US, the opportunites to accrue Delta non-flight miles are very limited, although I do when I can.

I also tried to make your point about cost differentials with and without ff miles. Not issuing them would save 2% but the airline might lose total revenue because of those who do proactively try to accumulate miles. Beckles also makes an excellent point in his last post.

Maybe 'something for nothing' is the wrong phrase - do you prefer 'a little something extra'?

James

[This message has been edited by james (edited 07-08-1999).]

[This message has been edited by james (edited 07-08-1999).]

coolbreeze

Um.......

By the way, I kinda lost track, what was the the final concensus,

"How Hard Izit"

Anyway, thanks for all the ideas and input,
I appreciate the month's worth of discussion!

C Ya