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Redeeming Frequent Flyer Miles Becomes Easier

Airlines Swear They'll Do Better ... But Not Right Now

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 24, 2007

• Be a Traveler, Not a Target • Money Solutions for the Traveler • Travel News

Frequent flyer programs have filled potential passengers with frustration for years.

Not enough available seats, few choices on desirable routes, and difficulty of online booking are just a few of the regular complaints heard by ConsumerAffairs.com.

On the eve of the summer travel season, those problems may be easing: 60 per cent of the delegates at a conference of frequent flyer program executives in Vancouver said award availability will increase this year.

It might not happen during the busy summer travel season but it will happen in 2007, they said.

The third conference of its kind included 250 delegates from 60 different airlines. Virtually all agreed frequent flyer programs will remain intact, primarily because they make money for participating airlines.

Airlines place frequent flyers into two categories: business flyers who prefer to use miles for upgrades and passengers who don’t fly often but garner frequent flyer miles via co-branded credit cards. The latter group prefers free tickets to upgrades, according to industry officials.

Airline executives at the conference, held in Vancouver, B.C., said business travelers generate 85 per cent of ticket revenue by purchasing high-priced tickets, often on short notice.

Even infrequent flyers help, they noted, because they allow airlines to sell miles to secondary markets.

In addition to frequent flyer program operatives, the conference included consultants and other industry officials. Partners from related industries, including hotels and rental car firms, joined the group on the final day.

All agreed that frequent flyer programs will outlast cost-cutting and downsizing in the airline industry because carriers continue to place a premium on customer loyalty. To counteract complaints about hard-to-find seats, airlines are willing to increase availability – tipping the balance of power to their marketing departments over their finance divisions.

One common complaint, just incurred by a ConsumerAffairs.com reporter, is the requirement by some carriers that customers not planning Saturday night stayovers cough up twice as many miles for a free ticket. Since most airlines require 25,000 miles for a coach ticket, that would mean an expenditure of 50,000 miles.

Wall Street Journal columnist Scott McCartney, who searched 24 routes that would allow him to use 25,000 miles for summer or fall travel, found American and United were the most generous airlines, followed by Continental and Northwest. US Airways had almost nothing and Delta had even less, he reported.

Syndicated consumer advice columnist Ed Perkins praised American’s new website for its ease in booking frequent-flyer seats and noted that Continental’s system is similar. He also said Continental’s site allows users to search for seats without logging in as OnePass members.

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