chicka12

Has anyone been able to take advantage of the iCLUB? Just asking, b/c I've recently started flying with this airline, so I haven't racked up enough flights yet, but hopefully I will sooner than later. Do you find this type of program better/easier than some of the others?

MFLetou

I hate it. I hate SWA's too. I simply don't fly enough on one airline to use it--when I do fly a lot, I tend to spread it around. I much prefer a traditional method of accumulating miles that you can use over the period of many years. I think it builds better brand loyalty over a sustained period of time.

DataBaseDude

iClub isn't bad but it would be a whole lot better if they gave you 4 points for every dollar that you spend isntead of just 1 (but it's double until June).
at first it was taking forever for me to get points, but then they started offerring double points and their ticket prices started going up a little so now I'm almost to another ticket.

Out of all the LCCs I think (and in my case it's verifiable fact) that AirTran's A Plus rewards is the best.
For AirTran if you buy tickets with an AmEx card you get an extra half credit.
... and right now if you fly out BWI you get even more, but who has enough time on their hands to drive to BWI.

StSebastian

With the double points and a trip I have coming up, I'll qualify for the 1500 point voucher for an award ticket up/down the east coast.

If you're not flying the same airline consistently when you do increase your flights, then you're not being brand loyal -- it sounds more like you're generally going solely by price and using the award points as a free bonus. The programs WN, B6 and DH have put in place reward their frequent fliers without having to carry a cost for those that aren't flying so much. For the infrequent flyer, they get a good product at a good price. For the airline, they get to reward true brand loyalty (because you have to stick with one airline in order to get an award in this case) without the carrying costs of all the miles the legacy airlines are dealing with.

chicka12

[QUOTE=StSebastian]With the double points and a trip I have coming up, I'll qualify for the 1500 point voucher for an award ticket up/down the east coast.

Can you use your free ticket to travel out to the West Coast? Or is it just for the East coast? I think this kind of program is definitely easier to manage than dealing with tons of miles.

StSebastian

From https://www.flyi.com/iclub/about.aspx :

MFLetou

But see now if FlyI and say UAL have the same fare for a particular route, what's my incentive for using FlyI? I know that I don't have enough miles to do much on EITHER airline, but I know that automatically I will not have enough to EVER get anything on FlyI, whereas on UAL eventually I WILL have enough to get a reward. So its to my advantage to book UAL.

FlyI's system punishes people who don't travel frequently. For instance, my parents travel by plane maybe 4 times a year. If they wanted to be loyal to FlyI, they could use them for all 4 trips. In return, they get absolutely nothing. If they want to be loyal to UAL, they'd get 1-2k miles for every trip, and at the end of the year they'd have maybe 8-10k miles. If they do this for 4 years, bingo, they have a reward. If they do it for 4 years on I, they have nothing.

DataBaseDude

You of course mean what's your incentive besides the nicer planes and much, much nicer staff right?

Well for one thing, UA isn't looking so hot from a survieability standpoint. I realize that Indy has it's problems too, but UA's unions are threatening to strike. If they do it wouldn't be very long before UA burns through all the savings that they are getting from terminating those pensions.

But as for Indy, it would be nice if they extended those points to at least 2 years if not 3 like UA.
Like I said before, quadrouple points would really help too.

I see what you are saying but the bottom line is that if everyone goes for the miles on UA because it's the same price as DH then you will eventually end up paying 4 times as much if Indy has to pull out of a market.
You biggest incentive is fare prices that you will pay next year. I know it doesn't do much for you now it seems, but remember that the only reason that UA is offering such cheap flights in the first place is because of Indy.

My 2 cents.

MFLetou

Well, its not just UA...Its US, AA, etc...

I have chosen to Fly Independence a number of times when UA was the same price because I want to support them. But I feel like in return I ought to at least get some miles I could use.

chicka12

yeah i agree that Independence air is definitely much nicer than UA. It doesn't seem like it would take a long time to earn a free flight, but you would have to fly with them everytime.. the 50% off deal isn't bad either though..

uva185

#1 Problem I see with iClub is your points expire in 12 months even if you fly constantly for 12 months. UA, US, DL, AA, etc all allow you to build up miles over a course of many years as long as you earn miles by flying or using a partner service once every 3 years!! I don't see why iClub couldnt adopt this policy.

BigBeerBelly

All those airlines have blackout dates FLYI doesn't. There is the difference. You can use your credit to fly whenever, wherever. Without the expiration date, eventually those major profit dates in the year would be gone for free and so would FLYI.

Just my opinnion,

BBB

uva185

Very true about blackout dates. I guess personally I would rather bank up miles and use them for a very expensive ticket (like first class to New Zealand....something I would never buy) rather than use them for a cheap ticket. I would never use my miles for a domestic ticket.

I have only flown on 1 Independence segment ever. How fast does it typicly take you to earn enough miles for a free roundtrip?

StSebastian

I'm going to get one for an upcoming flight. If I had to take this upcoming flight twice, it would be enough to get an award ticket, because of the significant price and double points through June 30th.

It's taken me 4 r/t and one one-way to get enough points for an award ticket -- several of those prior to the double points promo.

Side note: transcons for late June/early July are really expensive right now -- I had to work to get RDU-SFO/SJC for $400, and WN was pricing that over $500. Good for the airlines, bad for my wallet.