NYT: Time to bail out of FFP?
 

I assume many have read the Ron Lieber article in yesterday's NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/yo....html?emc=eta1)

It seems to me many of his points are valid and worth considering. As a long-time air traveler I remember the early 60's when prices were very high, the CAB controlled, and planes were empty. Now, as a result of mergers and a Fed that constantly gooses the stock market we have heavy use by business travelers, near-full planes and a rapidly diminishing value of frequent flyer perks. Would it not be sensible to withdraw for a time, burn those miles and then await developments?

[Moderator: couldn't find a similar posting on a brief search, somewhat surprisingly. Please move to the appropriate forum if this one seems inappropriate]

Have already committed to some discretionary travel this year, but unless something changes direction, 2015 will "probably" be my last as EXP after qualifying this year.

I fairly easily make Platinum with business travel, but go out of my way to arrange a couple TATL and/or Hawaiian vacations with the family, plus an MR here and there to make the difference for EXP. It will be EXTREMELY difficult to stick with the plan this year. Since I've already purchased one "discretionary" trip according to this plan, I'll probably commit to it again through 2014 - but I'm certainly losing interest.

It seems far more difficult to find an opportunity to use SWUs and when we do it comes with perpetual doubt they will clear, so that detracts from the vacation experience. After letting 3 expire from 2013, I'm losing that perception of value.

Getting reasonable domestic fares now seems to require a combination of AA/US Airway with stopovers ... too early to tell where that goes with the merger.

Lifetime perks are no longer something that seems to be on the table with the changes a couple of years ago, so there's no motivation to pursue that goal

Seems like the only thing that has prevented me from falling back in status is the dread of regaining status from the cheap seats in a future year ... because it's obvious that Platinum's don't get upgrades on the domestic routes I travel ... considering the frequency of not upgrading as an EXP.

I do wish it felt as motivating as it did a few years back, but this is feeling irrational to maintain ... better shopping out the travel to the competitive fare and give up on loyalty if the perks no longer compensate for the higher fares.

It's a strange business model when a customer bringing discretionary funds (along with a ticket for the rest of the family) is implied to be a "low-value-customer"

If Lufthansa, Air Canada, or whoever, is $500/ticket less ... it's probably time to save the $2K and suck it up in economy - especially when the upgrades are far from certain anyway.

I don't understand the concept of bailing-out of frequent flier programs. If I opt not to collect in any program but I continue flying then I'm refusing any benefits, whether it be priority on the ground, free baggage, seat upgrades or "free" flights. So it seems that I'm reducing the cost to the airline but without decreasing my level of flying that only plays into the bottom line of the airline even more.

Does the article author mean just eliminating FFP earning from our decision making process and flying whoever we choose based on product and price?

I'm a primarily AC flier out of YYZ so I'm locked in as I'm living at a hub (I prefer AC or WJ, and have had bad experiences with AT, S4, and Sunwing). I'm likely going to be flying AC an equal number of times even if I opt out of frequent flier programs, so opting out doesn't seem to put any pressure to fix the program.

Totally agree.. This was a shoddy article in my mind.

Why would I bail out? If DL wants to give me 5 miles per $1 spent, why would I say no?
Will this program deliver on its original intend, which is increase customer loyalty? for many, many people no.

I won't do MRs, I won't fly DL just so I earn more miles on them. I fly who has the best price/product for the dates I need. As a result, I have not earned status through flying since 2008. Yet, I have status on many, many airlines.

No need for drama or panic. No need to bail out. Just adjust how and who you book.

Article makes no mention of mileage runs and seems more about shifting your credit card spend from an airline card to one of the hotel or cash-back cards. I think your question would be better for a forum other than the mileage run discussion forum.

Although it doesn't mention it, it seems to me that for flying DL, bailing out would mean leaving skymiles in favour of say Alaska Mileage Plan. There's some reciprocal elite benefits there, isn't there?

I was suggesting that we begin to use those accumulated miles to purchase tickets, possibly FC tickets, rather than continue to accumulate them.

As "Travel News" seemed a better venue for the discussion the thread has been relocated from Mileage Run Discussion forum.

tcook052
Mileage Run Forum Moderator

There's a big question about how long the partnership will last. You would also lose out on many benefits if you rarely fly AS and mostly fly DL. I get upgraded a couple dozen flights a year on DL. As an AS elite, you are at the bottom of DL list and rarely get upgrades. Sorry, I'm not going trade my upgrades for more miles. I understand why someone who is Silver or Gold would consider the switch, but someone who is Plat or Diamond would likely think twice when considering the various benefits of status.

What upgrades. The newly minted kettles (previously FO and Gold) will now just pay a token amount to FCM to sit upfront. You will be back at the bus wondering what happened to your "promised" upgrade.

These new Delta changes are actually quite attractive, except that the MQD/MQM requirements aren't flexible. Why not go all the way, and allow someone who spends more on fare to get Diamond with a lower MQM threshold?

e.g. if at the rate of 5 MQM per MQD over the minimum,

Diamond requirements:
125K MQM + 12.5K MQD
62.5K MQM + 25K MQD
50K MQD

or Platinum requirements:
75K MQM + 7.5K MQD
37.5K MQM + 15K MQD
30K MQD

This would actually bring things more in line with AA and its EQP qualification method. If this were to happen, I'd switch to DL in a heartbeat, despite SkyTeam's awful Japan redemption options.

Well we non US travellers are getting punished twice. First we have/had significantly less opportunities (CC, Airline Promotions) to aquire miles and as a result of the inflating Miles in the US now have to suffer from less attractive award charts and diminishing perks. In a way it´s reflecting the real world monetary policy of the USD :)

What would keep you from paying a similar "token amount?"