Who are the most damaged by frequent flyer programs, out of the people who fly themselves?

Frequent flyer programs reward loyalty. Those rewards come from somewhere - they come at the cost of penalizing disloyal customers. Such as occasional fliers. The priority in waitlists and in case of irrops leaves those without priority behind.

Are there any people here whose flying patterns require disloyalty - getting into out of the way places as soon as possible, flying whatever airline/s get there first, depositing small amounts of miles in programs they rarely fly again, so that the miles are not enough to earn rewards or elite status? And, in case of irrops, find that expensive full-fare tickets and paid business and first still leave them in the back of the queue behind the local frequent flyers on discounted business?

Which major/flag carriers have reputation for good treatment of disloyal/occasional flyers?

Of course, FF programs usually have top elite tier. Are there any people here who are able to pursue the policy to fly an airline just enough (with some safety margin) to earn and maintain the top elite status there, and fly the rest of their flights on other airlines so as to earn status there as well?

Sounds precisely like my travel patterns. I flew 245,747 miles on 112 segments in 2008 and failed to qualify for elite status on any of the 17 carriers I used.

Granted, about half of my travel is using positive space tickets on my own airline - but a majority of my remaining travel on other carriers is booked between 2-72 hours prior to departure and is 100% based upon schedule available. I flew on exactly two straightforward roundtrip tickets (as opposed to open-jaws or one-ways) during 2008.

I suppose the biggest losers are, as you said, the occasional flyers, especially when they're hit with things such as checked bag fees that the Elite are spared. Corporate travel budgets could be losers if people focus business on "their" airline or hotel to the exclusion of cheaper alternatives. My company monitors whatever you choose vs. cheaper alternatives, but my manager is happy as long as I have an explanation and the difference is reasonable. (Examples: not taking a 7 AM Sunday flight out after getting in from London the previous Friday; not taking a flight with an average delay of 55 minutes to make a 30-minute connection at ORD.)

I qualified for Platinum on AA last year but also flew DL, WN, NW, AirTran, Midwest, Jet Airways and Swiss. Whatever makes sense.

I'd say Southwest takes good care of everyone. Their FAs actually seem to like their jobs. Despite my AA status, I just chose WN to fly to Chicago because their schedules were better. Yeah, I might get stuck in a middle seat and AA MIGHT have upgraded me, but I'm taking an 8 PM flight home and I trust WN to get me there on schedule.

Good questions! Let's try to tackle them one by one...

Who are the most damaged by frequent flyer programs, out of the people who fly themselves?
I disagree with your statement that FF programs penalize low-volume customers. That's only true if, in the absence of FF programs, you would then benefit somehow.

If FF programs went away, would you suddenly:
- have priority in waitlists? No.
- be treated better during irrops? No.
- no longer get the back of the plane or the end of the queue? No.
- have a better chance at Upgrades? No. Upgrades would simply disappear.

I believe if FF programs went away the losers would be the loyal FF members. You as an occasional (disloyal?) flyer would not see any benefit.

Which major/flag carriers have reputation for good treatment of disloyal/occasional flyers?
Southwest
Midwest Express

Are there any people here who are able to pursue the policy to fly an airline just enough (with some safety margin) to earn and maintain the top elite status there, and fly the rest of their flights on other airlines so as to earn status there as well?
I'm sure here on FT you will find many people who have high status in multiple FF programs.

this makes me sad that is really a shame you couldnt consolidate it more.

If FF programs did not exist, someone would be waitlisted, someone would be assisted during irrops, someone would be in the front of the plane, someone would be in the front of the queue, and since there would still be some unsold seats in front of the plane, so someone would be upgraded.

I agree with someone being in the front of the queue but not much else. Back in the days before FF programs, they did take better care of more pax during irrops, but airfares were higher (in 2009 dollars). I suspect that if the airlines didn't track who their loyal customers were, they'd just save money and give everyone the same generally shabby treatment. (Yeah, we'll get you there. When we can. Get back in line. OK, you're booked to go out at 11 AM tomorrow. Now go away.)

And it would go back to the old system of paying to sit up front. If there were empty seats, so be it.

BUT a non-FF would still probably find improved performance on of the above categories.

Examples:
- if there is no FF priority on the wait list, then this improves the chances of tagging a slot by removing one of the automatic mechanisms to reduce the pool size (a current direct impairment to the non FF)
- same with back of plane/end of queue...one element of automatic pool reduction is removed

That's life.

Garages, doctor's offices, stores, restaurants will all give regular customers better service than strangers.

Just the way it is.....

Hello!

Lets face it. FF programs reward frequency and loyalty. Its like the subway sub stamps used to be. Unfortunately most normal people that fly maybe 1 time year don't get much. I am certainly not a person who will agree to fork over $100 a year in credit card fees to get a 15,000 mile sign up bonus nor will I change my shopping habits because a grocery store that is not near me will offer miles on my purchases. I'm still a bargain hunter to the core. . i think most average folks would have a hard time accumulating miles on any FF program even with extra ways to earn miles. That said I have been able to redeem my miles for some nice rewards that include hotel stays, gift cards, and lifestyle rewards.. But I fly ultra long haul so my 1 trip a year plus extra points earned with gas purchases and Points.com I can make something of my 3 programs. The rewards are a good thing IMHO. better something then nothing. but its also a way Big Brother can find out what your shopping and buying habits are, and target sales companies to contact you with other offers.

I also had many years where I flew sporadically and took whatever airline was convenient. I started with the FF programs early, though, accumulating miles because "you never know". (That was back when it took a long time for them to expire, if at all.) It paid off when I was able to take my 12-year old son to a conference in Bermuda with me on FF miles. So, even infrequent fliers can reap the occasional reward.

The people who get the cheapest flight save more than getting a more expensive flight on a preferred airline. And those on expense accounts can get flights on any airline. If we all had to pay for our own flights, we wouldn't care so much about loyalty.

How do you know all of this? As I stated earlier, my company's travel reservation system (and many others) picks out alternative routings that are cheaper and generates an e-mail to my boss if I choose something more expensive. I've been fortunate that I've had managers who understood the reasons I gave in my earlier post as examples of why I chose a more expensive fare ($100-$150 difference, not hundreds). Those are reasons I would (and have) chose the more expensive option when I'm traveling on my own dime. Last year I saved the company $3,000 flying to Bangalore through LHR instead of taking the ORD-DEL nonstop and then connecting to BLR- I just thought the extra bucks were a ripoff. In November I flew to SEA on Midwest despite my status on AA. Better seats, nonstop, real meals (although they charged for them). No-brainer.

So please do not assume that everyone is out to rip off the company to keep status.