ICCC Recommends Ban on Frequent Flyer Programmes & Air Miles
 

With The Times leading this as their front page story today, I thought it was worth a topic to discuss the impact of this:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c...ghts-3cc6k5qgx (behind paywall)

The arguments are that they drive unnecessary travel from members in the pursuit of status and benefits, and that they glamourise travel through elite status.

Here is the source report- the relevant section is pages 33-36.

Bound to sit well in these parts

And from the comments below the article, pursuit of tier points being a particular flag...

What is ICCC?

The (Independent - appears in some articles) Committee on Climate Change

You know what - I have a better idea.

Why doesn't the HM Government close Rolls Royce instead, as they make many things that affect the environment?

*prepares Greta meme: You have stolen my dreams, you have robbed me of my Tier Points, you have destroyed my FFP

Boot QR out of OW....problem solved!! :p

Even as someone who doesn't have status I find the idea ridiculous. The aircraft will still fly even without tier point runners on them.

Why stop there? Close down all factories and forbid all transportation except by walking, running, or unmotorized bicycle/unicycle/tricycle/skateboard/etc. No exceptions, even for the royal family and MPs.

I don’t have the biggest damage to the environment going, children, so I’ll quite happily carbon offset those for going on my holidays in a comfy seat.

Another 'sin' tax.

Without going to extremes i hope there are some ways to optimize flying. Countless connecting flights are booked because they are priced much lower than non-stops at least here in US.

If two people travel from cities A and B to city C often they end up booking much cheaper A-B-C and B-A-C. The whole concept of hidden city ticketing highlights these incredibly wasteful pricing practices...

This would have to be thought out very carefully. The airlines use pricing algorithms that are the most profitable for them. The only way to do something like this is by force. And we don't want the CAB again!

The problem is that any attempt to resolve this without widespread international agreement and cooperation will introduce perverse incentives of its own.

That said, this is the best proposal I’ve heard of so far for BAEC going 100% revenue based. It would be a logical response to accusations of frequent flyer programs encouraging illogical and wasteful routings. Just award one tier point per £10 spent.

The mileage levy proposal feels like a rather absurdly intrusive item. I'm also not quite sure how they're planning to administer it (i.e. if I split my travel between airlines, who is tracking what?).

It also feels like what is likely to happen as a result of a bunch of this is increased shenanigans by higher-frequency travelers to duck the tax. It isn't like the UK is likely to have much luck tracking an AF or DL ticket from CDG to JFK post Brexit...so I feel like a small cottage market will develop on that front.

Also, banning FFPs in the UK [for example] would likely result in folks simply flipping their "loyalty alignment" to AA [for BA] or DL/AF [for VS], unless the government wants to take a serious stab at telling foreign airlines what to do.

NGL, the answer would probably be to just go back to straight regulated fares and force airlines to cease fighting it out on amenity cuts...but that would hose Austrian politicians holidaymakers going to Ibiza.