History of the status component of frequent flyer programs?
 

Forgive me if Information Desk is the wrong place for this - I couldn't work out the correct place to post this.

Much has been said about the introduction of Frequent Flyer programs with Texas International in 1979 and then American Airlines in 1981, but much of this discussion has focussed very much on the rewards side of things - earning miles, spending miles on free reward seats.

However, it's much harder to find information about the history of the status component of frequent flyer programs. Sure, airlines and other business have usually rewarded high-spending customers, but I'm intrigued to know who came up with the idea of the status benefits, and being able to produce a table of defined extra benefits given to people that achieve a certain qualification, and that qualification being publicised and measurable.

In essence, who invented the idea of membership tiers (like AAdvantage Gold/Platinum/EXP and United Premier/Premier Exec/1K) and introduced it into their frequent flyer program?

In this way, we're not talking about things like the very old Delta 100,000 miler club because that was just a plaque that people were given to recognise them. Similarly I'm hoping to exclude things like Concierge Key, Global Services and Emirates I/O, because they don't publish the qualification requirements for those to allow you to attain that level.

Who was the smart person that came up with the idea of airline status, which then locks so many of us into the programs that we use when flying? And which airline introduced it to market?

I'd love to know if people know much more about the history of this aspect of frequent-flyer programs as it doesn't seem to be as well documented.

Delta's Frequent Flyer Program had Medallion as its only elite level in the late 1980s. (I don't know when they introduced it; it was there when I started serious flying.) It required 25,000 actual flight miles; as I recall: class of service bonuses didn't count, but the segment minimum of 1,000 miles did. Around 1990 or a bit before, they introduced Royal Medallion for 50,000 miles. There were no elite bonus miles. Instead, elites got to choose rewards from a separate schedule with reduced mileage requirements. That was more or less the same, but not exactly, since partner miles (car rentals, etc.) increased in value along with flying miles. This all changed when DL switched to its SkyMiles program in 1995.

One of the best awards on the Medallion schedule was the M2 award: round trip upgrade for 2,500 miles with no fare restrictions. Since you then earned redeemable miles based on where you sat, not what you paid, you could upgrade a trip of over 2,500 miles and earn more additional miles via the class of service bonus than you paid for the upgrade. A win-win, at least for the passenger. Sadly, those days are gone.

TWA had an elite level in the early-mid 1980s.

However, long before there were FF programs, airline staff (especially sales representatives and airport station managers) made sure to give perks to their own frequent flyers, including lounge access and upgrades (some OPUPs, some IROPs rebookings, and some just because, including on international flights). Of course, for some of this, it helped to fly the same routes all the time. [For example, I know a guy who commuted between BOS and TLV on Swiss and was upgraded almost always. Other people I know were met by an airline-provided car on the tarmac upon arrival at ATH and FCO, although they had connections of the non airline variety too.]

The concept of "elite levels" well predates FF programs. My dad was given an inscribed brass-and-mahogany plague by United Airlines in the 1960s for being in the "100,000 Mile Club." In this era you can fly 100,000 miles and not get the time of day from UA or most others.

Ouch! Did they pay for the treatment as well? :D

We'll try this out in Travelbuzz where it might become part of a larger discussion.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

Wow! I'm actually happy I wasn't around for this game in those days; it would just make me depressed now...

KLM had a so-called courtesy card to recognize their most frequent flyers in the 70's (and maybe a bit earlier) - spouses also got one.

I would imagine it's very much linked to computing power - you need to track these things and it would not have been possible before modern computers.

What's "modern?" SABRE was under development in the 1950s and operational on IBM 7090s in 1960. Other airlines used IBM 7070 and 7080 family systems during the 1960s as well.

My grandpa once told me he had some version of status with PanAm in either the 70s or 80s.

He also had a Hilton Preferential card dating from the '60s. Apparently he did some work for Hilton then (he started/ran a CPA firm in Chicago) and told them he'd do the work for free if he could get a Preferential card, which at the time had to be individually and personally approved by Conrad Hilton. I think its main benefit was that you could show up at any Hilton worldwide without a reservation and they had to give you a room.

I don't remember a world before status...I just remember the early 1990's, when AA Plat garnered very nice treatment by the airline. There was no EXP, so as soon as you hit 50k you were "top tier". (If CK existed, it was hush-hush enough that it didn't detract from the regular Plat experience.) Airports had Platinum Service Centers. I received numerous TATL operational upgrades as a Plat. The ladies at my local CTO actually *knew* me...I'd go in there once a month at lunch and buy a whole stack of tickets for my regular work commute. The whole thing was so much more human back then. Airlines and passengers did not view each other as adversaries. Weird, huh?

there must be threads on this

financial statements / annual reports may track some of the history ?

No CK until the early 2000s. Someone else may recall more precisely.

I don't recall coming across any CK's prior to the second half of the 2000s. In 2001-2004, people whom I know to have been big AA spenders didn't end up with CK even as many of them ended up with it by say 2008 or so.