The recent downgrades to frequent flyer programs and air travel in general have a lot of people ticked off, if my inbox is any indication.
Several people are threatening to jump ship from their current frequent flyer program of choice and get their status matched by a competitor. (For regularly-updated info on status matches, see this FlyerTalk thread.)
Others are throwing in the towel on loyalty entirely. (This is especially prevalent among the low- and middle-tier elites who are writing in.) As reader David suggests:
Maybe this will mean that “elites” won’t feel so elite anymore, and will just buy tickets where it’s most convenient. I know that’s my plan. And maybe people won’t worry about miles as much anymore, and we can ditch this “status” crap and all go back to just being customers. Is the bulls&@t the airlines are feeding us really democracy in disguise?
Well, I don’t think this means the end of elite status, but here’s my prediction:
If anything, top-tier elite status will be even more entrenched as a result of these changes. If only the top tier of flyers will really feel the benefits, then it’s likely that lower-level elites could become “free agents,” basing their purchasing decisions on price, schedule, and service, and not on mileage accrual. But the top-tier folks will maintain their loyalty, and the airlines will, in turn, continue to reward them. Everyone else can apparently go to hell, but since that attitude seems universal, across programs, it will be distributed equally across the market, and the net effect (from the airlines’ perspective) is nil.
But what are you thinking? How has the consistent downgrading of frequent flyer programs and the air travel experience changed your views on loyalty? Are you cutting up your airline credit cards? Are you changing your buying habits? Or are you locked in, and not giving up? Hit the poll below, and hit the comments.
(image credit, and no, I have no idea what the heck that sign is for, but loyalty and fidelity to your produce are honorable and just)
RSS (FeedBurner)
Read with Amazon Kindle
Subscribe by E-mail
Follow on Twitter
June 13th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I’m a United “middle-tier” elite and the free upgrade to Economy Plus, the separate security lines (at least at my local airport, SFO), and the occasional bump up to Business Class make it worthwhile. But having Virgin America and Jetblue in the same airport already strains my allegiance. Should United screw with any of the elite benefits too much, I’m afraid I’ll be a free agent.
June 13th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I’m close to giving up on loyalty, too, because I haven’t really been getting the benefits I was hoping for. But I’m still holding on, barely.
I was mid-tier on Continental (three years ago) and wasn’t clearing upgrades. So I status-matched to United and enjoyed Economy Plus and the occasional upgrade. But now they’re selling E+ to anyone who’ll pay (I’ve been unable to get it on some recent flights), and I end up flying on the small regional jets more and more, so no E+ or first. The seating advantage is gone; I can just fly Jetblue and get the better seat, period. Double miles elite bonus is nice, if they keep it (sucks to be a US elite) and may be the only thing keeping me “loyal” at this point. If I flew international more, miles would be even more important to me. But honestly, this i getting too hard to track, and isn’t as fun as it used to be.
June 13th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I was never an Eltie since all my travel was for pleasure. But i do travel 6 times a year. As points become more worthless so does any degree of loyalty.
June 13th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
BTW if the US carriers finally gave us a true premium economy cabin I might fly more and they might get more money out of me. I’m 6′3″ and can’t take the squeeze in seats anymore. If i can’t use points to upgrade I’ll simply forgo the carries and fly BA or Virgin even if it is somewhat out of my way.
June 14th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Devaluing mileage awards also reduces the appeal of mileage credit cards. There are several cards that offer 1.5% cash back. Cash never gets devalued.
June 14th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Dr. Vino says:
“Cash never gets devalued.”
What country are you living in???
June 15th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Gotta agree with Dan on this one, Dr. Vino. As you well know, the value of cash can decline…
Not to mention inflation. (Oh, wait, once you exclude the “volatile food and energy sector,” there’s barely any inflation, right? ::groan:: Fun with statistics.)
Perhaps you meant that cash can’t be taken away from you, the way airlines can expire your miles within 18 or 24 months.
Miles are a currency, much like the dollar, but without the ability to earn interest, with fixed exchange rates (redemption rates) set by a central bank (the airline) whose policy goal is to inflate.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
The poll is missing “With the changes, I will SWITCH my loyalty to another airline thru ’status match’”
I am Chairman-level with US Airways and I am switching to Continental (if they match me)
June 16th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Mr. Coward, you’ve had a change of heart? Just last week, you were saying that no elites would be defecting, weren’t you?
What pushed you over the edge?
June 16th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I don’t think I’d remain loyal if I didn’t have a hope of getting platinum on Northwest – it just doesn’t pay enough, even for gold. When I was gold I’d almost never get upgraded on transcontinental flights, which is where they really count. I’d be shopping every flight if I were silver. As it is, once I clear the required miles for platinum, I do shop international flights, since Northwest has treated international elite fliers badly for as long as I can remember.
As for the miles…pffft…
June 18th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
[...] as everyone else, but with a separate greeting? Want to get on the loyalty train while others are getting off? Upset that you’re not getting blamed by travel writers for ruining air travel? Well, you [...]
June 19th, 2008 at 7:00 am
[...] as everyone else, but with a separate greeting? Want to get on the loyalty train while others are getting off? Upset that you’re not getting blamed by travel writers for ruining air travel? Well, you [...]
June 20th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
>What pushed you over the edge?
Well, I was reading (and participating) in this thread (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9874839#post9874839) and folks there convinced me that CO will never (?) do anything as “evil” as dropping elite mileage bonuse since they care ab elite’s repeat business.
So I switched. I will be loyal, but to CO, not US now.
Initially, I thought that even though it sucks to lose mileage bonus BUT everybody will match it. A call to US Exec Office confirmed that – they STRONGLY believe that “all profitable airlines will do it.”
But then folks from Flyertalk convinced me that CO will not go for stuff this offensive.
Now that CO is part of *A, I can kiss the dirty USAir seats good bye…