EX-cellent post, wideman. You've identified an in--between place that I think a lot of us are in. That is, there's still some value(usually) to working a FF program, but it gets harder every year to justify the effort. I, too, find the decline in benefits on most airlines "very troubling" to quote you once more.

And, I also think you hit the timeframe right on. That's about when I first started noticing the decline in the program I was platinum in at the time.

#2 and a CO. What a fit! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Ah hell, Microsoft is just bitter that nobody will sign up for or give a rat's *ss about their .net passports.
:rolleyes

Odd, I was just thinking this myself as I was sitting back in my (elite-level) self-selected exit row with my (elite-level) blocked seat next to me.

I don't know about the 1 cent per mile part. I just booked 4 Business seats to Bejing for June at 90k miles each. You can do the math.

Here we go... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Not worth it??? Well I just returned from BOS/DTW/CDG for $249.60 on NW, earning 20,236 miles sitting in exit rows on the international segments and F on the domestic segments, using the zero wait elite check-in line (there had to be 150 people in the regular check-in line).

I took Mrs OB one to Paris for 5 days as a Christmas present and now I can replace nearly half of those 47,000 miles I used to book award tix from BOS LGW CDG BOS for this coming summer. Seems pretty hard to beat to me. Otoh, I had to shell out nearly $70 in taxes for that free flight. I think I can live with that.

So the family of 4 goes to Europe in the summer for $270 and 188,000 miles. Not too bad and yes I can live in coach for that although I would prefer business/first class.

Look, the bottom line is that you get something for nothing. You are already travelling, so go ahead and get yourself a little bonus.

This is espcially true if you are spending someone else's money to do it!

Lets see....
My million mile run alone.
1) ~4000.00 in airfare.
2) the Memorial Day weekend in 2000.

What have I gotten from that one trip?

1.) Coach Rt IAH-PHL. (Est. $250.00)
2.) 2 Coach Rts IAH-AMS AMS-MNL and back. To see where my Gramps was in WWII. (est. $1900.00 each.) (Talked my way into Business Class on MNL-AMS, He was 82 yrs old and had never been in business class. Needless to say he LOVED it.) Real value is being able to take that trip.
3.) 2 Business class RTs IAH-CDG (est. $1700.00 each) Sent parents to Paris in style.
4.) Week's hotel in NYC for Mom, Aunts and Grandma. (Transfer to Hilton) (Est. $2400.00)

Still got ~500K left.

Yes. It took time and a little persistance.
Clearly I am ahead.

Also, my rule is: Price being equal, I go for the miles. Otherwise buy the cheaper product.

BSL

That article has some points that are well taken, but to abandon FF programs and convert to southwest to me is stupid.

If southwest meets your needs: fly 8 (or 4 online) simple US roundtrips and get another cheapie free - go ahead, but that does nothing for someone like me who prefers to go on international trips or someone who wants something other than coach (aka cattle) class.

I flew 3 trips to Europe (LAX-AMS,CDG,FCO)from 10/01 to 12/01 on US. I paid $1500 total for my 3 trips on US and used my systemwides to upgrade 5 out of 6 transatlantic legs. I used my miles (bonuses & all!) for 2 business class tickets to Australia & NZ. If I took the advice of the article, I would have paid almost 2K for just my ticket in coach. If I took the advice of the article, I would have been in cramped coach class & not taken 3 nice trips to Europe & support the airlines during a tough time right after 9/11.

That's my rule, too. However, what I've found for the trips I've booked lately is that price is hardly ever equal. In fact, for every trip I've booked for the last several months, one airline was MUCH cheaper than the others -- by more than $100 in every case. And the airline that was cheapest was different in every case!

That savings is the equivalent of getting a free ticket after only three or four roundtrips. Hardly any FF program could do better.

There is a kind of explanation: I monitor airfares to the places I want to go continuously, and I only buy tickets when the price drops below my thresholds. And then I buy them fast, before the price goes back up.

Although common wisdom says that when one airline drops fares drastically, others follow, I haven't found that to be practically true. Even when other airlines say they've dropped their fares, they often don't provide as many discount seats as the orginal airline. And sometimes they don't drop them at all.

For example, late last year Northwest Airlines had a few very short-term sales where roundrip SFO-CDG was $240 + taxes. They did this two or three times last fall, each time for just a few days. In each case no other airline came within $150 of this fare.

Despite all that I've accumlated enough FF miles to take several free trips. So it's not like I entirely agree with the news article either. But FF miles are definitely less important to me than price when it comes to choosing my flights.

Of course, I fly a lot less in total than many of you guys do. Even if I used the same airline for all my flights I would not have enough miles for elite status, which I understand is where the real FF benefits might come in.

Ed

Here's the byline at the end of the article:
"Christopher Elliott is the editor of Elliott's E-mail, a free weekly newsletter for travelers."

Seems like a matter of getting your money's worth and no more.

Pardon the attack on this Elliot guy's intelligence, but he is an idiot. If you don't want to get caught up in the hubbub over frequent flyer miles, then just disengage yourself from the mileage madness. Don't read the e-mails don't open the promotional mailings, and look at your statements once or twice a year. But don't cancel your memberships. What the heck good do you get out of that? Just take what they give ya, for crying out loud. Of course, if this guy wants to shoot himself in the foot, you won't see me tryin to stop him!

yorock

I would thing this guy probably get paid by Southwest, he is promoting them very strongly.