Comments on: Poll: Does loyalty matter any more?

By: Anonymous Coward

Anonymous Coward — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:50:16 +0000

>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…

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Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:00:15 +0000

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By: Robert Bradford

Robert Bradford — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:21:34 +0000

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…

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:15:03 +0000

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?

By: Anonymous Coward

Anonymous Coward — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:45:29 +0000

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)

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 13:31:20 +0000

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.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:41:26 +0000

Dr. Vino says:

“Cash never gets devalued.”

What country are you living in???

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:36:10 +0000

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.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:00:48 +0000

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.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:58:27 +0000

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.

By: S A

S A — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:57:29 +0000

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.