FlyerTalk Forums - What Year Did You Join Your First Frequent Flyer Program and What Was It?

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- - What Year Did You Join Your First Frequent Flyer Program and What Was It? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1783791-what-year-did-you-join-your-first-frequent-flyer-program-what.html)

I use to think that you had to fly frequently (I was flying around 2-3 times a year) to get a frequent flyer account @:-)

Didn't sign up for an account until 2011 after a UA flight, :( hate to think about the miles I missed out on.

I had a OnePass account from PeoplExpress or Eastern IIRC. My AA account says 1991 (I would have guessed earlier); I got that signing up to access Easy SAAbre on Compuserve. :eek:

PSA Executive Flyer, in 1986.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbm12 (Post 27051824)

I got that signing up to access Easy SAAbre on Compuserve. :eek:

I think I used Easy SAAbre on Prodigy come to think of it. Or maybe The Source :eek:

I signed up for FF programs very shortly after they were introduced, for all airlines that I thought I might fly. I guess that would be 1981.

AirCal 1986......My (almost) first credit card....TWA 1972.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbm12 (Post 27051824)

I had a OnePass account from PeoplExpress or Eastern IIRC. My AA account says 1991 (I would have guessed earlier); I got that signing up to access Easy SAAbre on Compuserve. :eek:

The OnePass program was from Eastern Airlines which was later sold to Continental which retained the OnePass name (until merging with United in recent years).

Btw, CompuServe still exists, but it's simply an email domain and web-based email service owned by (and operated by) AOL, which is now part of Verizon along with Yahoo.

I still have a CompuServe email account! :p

TWA and I don't recall which year..

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdsearch (Post 27058774)

The OnePass program was from Eastern Airlines which was later sold to Continental which retained the OnePass name

Continental and Eastern never merged. They were both own by Texas Air, and operated separately, same as British Airways and Iberia have common owner today.

OnePass was not EA's original frequent flyer program. After Texas Air acquired Eastern they created OnePass to be a joint frequent flyer program for Continental, Eastern and some affiliated carriers. See AP article reporting creation of OnePass in May 1987 HERE, complete with quotation from Randy Petersen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mia (Post 27059346)

It is info like this when I wish we had a like button

NWA programme circa 1988

If you have a subscription to the New York Times you can read this article published October 1982 when the programs were approaching their first anniversaries:

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/17/tr...ent-flier.html

Much of the article explains to the reader how the programs work, including this:

Quote:

Earlier this month, Continental Airlines added a new option to the game. Their ''Travelbank'' plan allows members to take the free trip first and sign a pledge to fly the required miles within a year or pay back the air fare.

There is also a discussion of the decision to make awards redeemable only by individuals rather than corporations:

Quote:

Corporate travel departments much preferred the airline incentive programs of 1979, for example, when some carriers provided passengers with coupons every time they took a flight. The company could appropriate the coupons from employees and use them toward future business flights. Bristol-Myers saved about $120,000 with those coupons, Celanese saved nearly $100,000 and Lipton approximately $32,000.

''It worked out fine with those coupons,'' said C. Patrick Doran of the corporate travel department at Lipton, ''but with these you just have to depend on the honesty of the employee. I think it's misdirected. There should have been some benefit to the corporation.'' Mr. Doran sent out a memo to all Lipton employees on July 9 advising that ''any free tickets or any awards of this nature obtained through company business are considered to be company property. These trip awards, which are applicable for future business travel, should be made available to the corporate travel department.'' So far, he said, he's heard from two of the company's 400 employees who travel.

I joined DL's program back in either 1982 or '83.

NWA 2003.
I feel so young compared to the "acients" in this thread :D

United's Mileage Plus in 1987 on the way back from my first tour of duty in Korea.