It would not just anger the elites, it would in the end cost the airlines money.

The reason the airlines tolerate us MRers is because, in reality, there are so few of us. It's easier for them to let us slip through, earning major status and benis for a mere pittance, than it would be to screen us out.

There's also the risk that discouraging mileage running would run off good business. I've heard of lots of folks doing one day trips for valid business purposes. One anecdote had a guy flying to Europe for a 20 minute meeting, then going back to the same airport to head back to the States. No lodging, no extra clothes, just cab fare between the airport and the customer site.

I suggest you edit this post, unless you can prove this statement true. Having a completely incorrect answer in response to this (often asked) question will cause a lot of confusion for future readers.

I do it 4-6 times a year. Fly to LHR on overnight flight. Arrive at 7/8 :00AM.
Shower & Breakfast in arrival lounge.
Interview the candidates at Sheraton Skyline.
Back on Afternoon flights/flight to YYZ.
Saves the company money.
For bigger savings to the company:
Nearing end of the year and I have Upgrades to burn.
Buy the bucket fare with Sat. requriment. Upgrade using the certs; Fly on Saturday, Arrive on Sunday Morning; do the interviews back on the plane in the afternoon home sunday evening. No lost of Business days.
Our clients are very appreciative for this frugal practice.

Doesn't this practice infringe on your personal life? My colleagues and I are constantly battling our executive staff over whether it is appropriate vs. inappropriate to fly on "company time". Our logic: We're flying for business purposes -- we shouldn't be forced to use our personal time for company purposes since we're not getting paid on our personal time.

Isn't using a creadit card to qualify for MQMs the same as not flying? I guess I still miss the point about why an airline should care if I am on the plane or not as long I as I have paid the fare and they keep it all. It gives them more opportunity to put on oversold or standbypassengers (which is just abluiut every flight I take) and potenially make even more revenue or have a better image with a plane that has a few emptry seats that is more comfortable for the other passengers and no revenue loss, only gain.
I realize this industry has no logic about it and I must be naive as a business person but I simply don't get it.

In many (most?) organisations, once you get a level or two above the shop floor the issue of personal time v. company time goes out the window. Instead of an hourly wage one is paid a monthly salary, in exchange for which you are expected to do whatever it takes (spending as much time as necessary) to get the job done.

cheers,

Henry

I am actually salaried -- but nonetheness, salaried employees still have a provision for overtime pay (though rarely does it ever actually happen) which I interpret as recognizing that even salaried employees are allowed to have personal lives and that unduly infringing on them is deserving of additional compensation. The concept "whatever it takes" is quite broad and leaves employees open to being overworked and burned out. We're all still human at the end of the day, regardless of whether we're classified as exempt vs. non-exempt. Just my humble two cents.

While the airlines do some crazy things, this is not one of them. To simply repeat your original wrong notion, parrot a single post about "no logic", and ask about credit card EQMs (just a tiny fraction of the miles it takes to qualify) does not really address the issue that you wanted explained.

So I'm afraid you're just going to have to settle for not getting it; as Einstein said, "Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler."

Well, I'm not a noob, but I sort of agree with the OP.

The current system was incrementally established over 3 decades, and the end result has many side effects that defy logic, and make little economic sense for either the airlines or the passengers. If you look at a MR as a single standalone transaction, the airline would be better off having that seat empty so they could sell it to another, and the pax would be better off not having to sit for 20 hours in coach on that transoceanic turnaround.

Yes, those of you who replied that if you could get RDM or EQM without flying, folks might use this method to buy benefits worth more than their ticket costs. But that doesn't mean that allowing folks to earn miles w/o flying is the illogical part. The illogical part is selling a product (the seat on those flights) and throwing in a bonus (the miles, or maybe the EQM's/status) that is worth more than the price you put on the product.

But, just as legacy airlines have put themselves in a position where they sell seats below cost in order to compete, they likewise need to match other airlines FF programs. Some airlines have tried "more logical" programs where points accrue not based on miles flown but on total fares paid - a far harder system to "game" for us FT'ers - but none have been very successful.

AA have sold statuis.
I believe if you prepaid $20K they gave you ExecPlat status.

One factor which doesn't appear to have been mentioned in the thread is the ability of airlines to effectively have a throttle on mileage earning activity by requiring the passenger to be on the aircraft to earn miles. If this wasn't the case it would be feasible to earn elite status within a day or two just by trawling for acceptable fares and purchasing them. Even without elite status, with some of the very good fares available which allow destination miles to be earned for less than accepted redemption value this would effectively be fare arbitrage.
There are the obvious limits on the number of available reward seats and so on which would limit the impact of this, but the airlines certainly don't need a group (which would likely grow quickly once word got out about just how little effort was involved - a key factor which probably keeps the MR group relatively small) earning very large amounts of miles in very short spaces of time! Outstanding frequent flier miles and their potential impact to revenue do have to be included in the accounts so that could stand as one business reason why passengers are required to fly to earn the miles.

Very much a newbie here, so please be kind with the replies :)

for business. my trip is a day here and there. usually short trip