We're always so caught up in discussion of the value of a mile.
2 cents a mile, 4 cents a mile.

Boy, do we sound like 9th graders or what?

The value of my miles, just like the value of my stock portfolio has dropped considerably.

So the way I figure it, my UA miles aren't worth a dam.

Dan in HPN

Give blood

That's right. Give blood and donate to the Red Cross disaster relief fund.

Whoa, wait a minute. Miles are worth something as they still offer freedom. I have a business class award ticket still for Spain in November but if my plans change, I can go at Christmas time instead, or in March or in June with no penalties.

Yes we should donate blood but I have more interesting tale. I am planning on donating a roundtrip domestic award in hopes that someone who needs to be transferred to another hospital for a special treament or operation can do so, or so a family can be reunited. All airlines participate in some type of charity program. I am also giving an award on CO to a friend in New York who will visit Costa Rica again so that he can take a vacation soon to help combat the trauma he faced working just a block away from the World Trade Center but arrived late to work that day.

Miles are still worth something and even with recent unemployment this summer and new, lessor length and pay consulting projects; I am glad I can offer something back.

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"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

Why are your UA miles worthless?? Things will return to normalcy soon. It won't be the same, which is probably a good thing. Perhaps a little patience is warranted to see what happens.

http://www.ual.com/site/primary/0,10017,1363,00.html

Hint, hint.

I tend to agree with dhammer53 that the value of miles has dropped significantly, perhaps to zero. The airlines were already under financial pressure before this weeks' tragic events; the pressures are now more intense and will get worse as the public curtails its flying. Frequent flyer benefits are likely to be cut as airlines scale back flight schedules, lay-off employees, and attempt to increase load factors. This morning CO announced it was laying off 20% of its work force and dropping a number of flights from its schedule. I would not be surprised if at least one major airline pulled the plug entirely on its FF program in the next 6-9 months. Once that happens, the rest will follow.

Personally, I doubt that the carriers will cancel their frequent flyer programs, as they will remain in competition with each other to capture travelers in an environment of reduced travel interest. It is much less expensive to continue to offer miles as an inducement to select a particular carrier than it will be to revamp service levels. Also, while the miles awarded remain a liability on the carriers' balance sheets, they do not represent an operating cost.

Additionally, it will be in their interest to do as much as possible to encourage everyone to return to air travel as soon and as much as possible. Award tickets, particularly on flights with otherwise vacant seats, represent a low-cost method of "subsidizing" the travelling public.

Will significant changes to the program occur? Probably. I would suspect that the airlines will be even more careful to minimize providing award seats that could otherwise be sold, and it would seem likely that staffing, and hence service levels, will be reduced behind the administration of the programs.

Selling miles via partner programs is a valuable revenue stream. At this point in time they need all the revenue they can get, and eliminating a non-cash liability gains them nothing. Besides look at business travellers. How many full-fare trips would be eliminated towards year-end if "status" considerations went away? Less flights, more conference calls.