Don't know the details of this, and have never spoken with Randy about it, but I imagine this is analogous to a basketball team which runs a promotion: if a fan sinks a basket from center court, the fan wins $1mm.

Teams that offer that regularly take out insurance so that if the fan sinks the basket, the insurance pays. They pay the same premium either way. They can even root for the fan to come out on top, because nothing's coming out of their pocket either way...

That's how it sounds to me based on the description, but again I haven't looked into this.

While I respect the judgment of most of the rest of my fellow travel savvy FTers, and certainly the expertise of the man himself, Randy Peterson, my own good judgment counsels against purchasing AwardGuard at this juncture. There are just too many questions about the terms of the program, its benefits, and the company's solvency in the event of a deluge of claims to justify potentially thowing $119.00 down the drain.

Unlike the insurance industry which is heavily regulated, the same cannot be said for the "assurance" industry, whatever it is. From what I know, AwardGuard is relatively untested when it comes to major airline liquidations. For that reason, any absence of notable black marks with the Beter Business Bureau must be taken with a grain of salt. Other than a purported clean bill of health from the BBB, purchasing AwardGuard coverage appears to be a $119.00 blind leap of faith.

For me, even with the anxiety associated with the possible, even probable, loss of significant reward travel value, AwardGuard is just too risky an investment with the information presented (and withheld). The only thing worse than losing a bundle of Mileage Plus miles, would be losing $119.00 as well. The assurance is tempting, but does the emperor have any clothes?

[This message has been edited by cAAl (edited 03-24-2003).]