Yes there is a cost. There are few marketing strategies that do not cost money. FF miles are a marketing expense. My airline gets more business than they would without a FF program. Television, radio, print, naming arenas, etc. all add to the cost of doing business which has to be paid in some way.

My co-workers all fly at least as much, if not more, than I do - and yet none of them bother to collect miles or anything.

On the other hand, when I first got hired, my boss asked me for my frequent flyer numbers - "so we can make sure you get credit!" He's an AA 4 Million Miler, thanks largely to charging everything to his corporate AAdvantage MasterCard

It could be that they, like many other people, are not aware of alliances and partnerships that allow concentrating miles and points. Many people may think that they are going on a business trip on an airline that they will never use again (or not use enough to collect mileage for an award or status), so they don't bother with collecting the miles or points. They may become more interested if you tell them about airline alliances and partnerships that allow concentrating the miles and points so that they have a good chance of getting an award or status.

For example, I have flown or will fly in the near future nine different airlines, but seven of them combine into two frequent flyer programs, both of which have yielded awards that I would not have gotten otherwise (I also got an award on one of the other two).

Sometimes, mere membership in a frequent flyer program can be useful, even without status. Holding a Southwest Rapid Rewards card when flying Southwest out of PDX lets you use the "elite" security line.

Also, a lot of people are not aware of hotel loyalty programs that can be useful even if you don't stay there enough to get awards or status at the hotel. I got a free breakfast coupon at a Hilton once just for having a Hilton HHonors account with zero points in it (those without HHonors accounts did not get the coupon).

Yeah, if I had a dime (or 100 miles) for every time a coworker or friend told me "I don't fly airline XYZ often enough to get anything."

I made a huge point of this when a good friend came out to visit last year, on a NW ticket. She didn't have any FF#s at all, so I signed her up for NW WP. I also made sure to tell her that she should use the same number when flying on Delta or Continental.

Sure enough, she just made a trip to NJ on CO and proudly told me she signed up for OnePass! Brilliant (not). People either don't sign up, or they spread their miles all over even within an alliance.

Horse. Water. Drink.

Amazingly, these folks are sometimes the same people who'll be seriously into store rebates and coupon deals, but don't get it about FF and Hotel loyalty programs.

I've pretty muched stopped proselytizing about the benefits of miles and points.

Of the several people that I work with, all who travel more then me, only one took the FT idea to heart. He recently took a two weeks vacation to Scotland and England, free airfare and free hotel. That was after a year accumulating miles/points during business travel. He doesn't even visit FT, he just checks the the websites of the programs he is in and will ask me every once in awhile if I have heard of any new promos.

The rest are too busy (but you can spend an hour on the phone with your mother talking about cousin so and so) or it is too complicated (I've told you I would forward on all the good promotions, you just need to sign up) or you don't travel enough (wait, I just barely make SE on NW and you travel at least three times as much as me) for those people that can't be bothered, I figure they are too lazy to help themselves so I am not going to go out of my way.

I am partially Ok with those who choose not to partake... it means more for me. Although I am still saddened by their lack of interest for a couple reasons.
1) The lack of initiative many times translates into other areas of their life... like work for instance.
2) Some seem to actually have a fear of travelling, not the flying but going someplace new, risk of putting themselves in a situation that they might have to expand their mind to deal with another culture.

I think the second reason is the saddest.

That girlfriend has the right idea. On occasion, I also do hotel-hopping. She could easily turn into a FT convert. As with the other posters, there are many out there that would rather read only the first page of the book. My relatives DO NOT travel and could care less. I signed up my niece for her first flight and dumped thousands of additional miles in her account without her knowledge. I could access her account online and one day saw most of the miles gone. Can you imagine my disappointment when she told me she cashed in for a bunch of magazine subscriptions because she didn't see a need for those accumlated miles?

Borrowing from Stephen Covey, if our relatives and friends are at our wake, let them speak well of the world traveler that lies before them, not of the greedy, obsessed collector of miles and points. Keeping quiet may decide which camp you are in.

-outoftown

Are the nunneries still open?

My friend, who I described in this thread, is back again, and he's staying at the same Quality Inn as me.

So, inasmuch as he collects AA miles ("I've got a credit card!"), I suggested the following: Choice hotels is currently running a triple miles program. You don't have to join up, you don't need to get another credit card, just tell them at the front desk to credit your account to AA. Easy money. By the end of April you'll have another 6000 miles or so.

So he said, "Nah."

So I gave up again.

How frustrating. You can't win 'em all.

Why are you still friends with this person?

Mike

He's good to his kids. <shrug>

Hey! There's more to life than miles and points.






Did I just say that?

One more comment like that and I'm going to have to report your inappropriate language to the moderators. That's a clear violation of the TOS.

Mike

I have merged the old thread with the update, to improve housekeeping.

We must keep our of miles in the closet.

You seem to be missing the obvious. Book the room for two people, add your AA number, and you get the miles! Simple as pie.