[stonecold_1981]

AirlineSympathizer,

How would justify United dropping a lot of benefits from the Premier (now Silver) elite tier and essentially demoting them to a no-status? Don't you think they showed loyalty to United by flying 25k+ miles in a year with them.

Or is loyalty defined by the total number of $ spent with the airline (irrespective of the spending power or need)?

By the way, I don't disagree with your overall premise here. I believe you are saying - so long as you fly enough to make it to the top tier of an airline mileage program, you should stick to one airline.

However, I think Jim's point applies to the an average or even an above-average traveler. There is no reason for such a person to be loyal to a specific airline. The benefits don't justify the cost (in this case cost includes the $$ as well as the service-compromise that people make while selecting an airline).

[AirlineSympathizer]

Originally Posted by stonecold_1981

However, I think Jim's point applies to the an average or even an above-average traveler. There is no reason for such a person to be loyal to a specific airline. The benefits don't justify the cost (in this case cost includes the $$ as well as the service-compromise that people make while selecting an airline).

For an "average" person I might agree with you...but there are still some FFps without expiration out there. People can still get themselves an occasional free ticket with no real extra effort or cost.

25K miles a year, btw, is nothing. AA's top tiers do 100K. Airlines remove (and indeed, add) benefits all the time. This is nothing new. As I have said, mergers and bankruptcy will eliminate any benefits you had with any company - airline or not. It's silly to state that as an example, when there are a lot of other good ones. I never fly United because I find them personally, a terrible airline....so no clue what they do.

[jimworcs]

United justify it, the way all three of the mega carriers justify their actions. They blame market conditions, but it is a management tool to file Chapter 11 to run away from their contractual relationships.

AA filed to get their pilot contracts re-written and to rip up other employee contracts, there was no other reason.

You are right, average or even above average travellers get no benefit from such schemes. Even very high usage travellers would typically only benefit from such schemes if their employers are paying the bills and they are reaping the rewards. If they were paying the costs, they would still be cheaper shopping around.