[TiredOldHack]

Probably because their lounges simply couldn’t cope with the extra business.

[IanFromHKG]

Why on earth do you think that would stop them??

[PeterCoultas]

By all means those poor hard done by business bees forced by miserable employers to fly inconveniently in first should keep their FFPs…..
BUT, maybe those who pay for their own tickets deserve a bonus (say 100%) as they are really choosing the airline they fly on? The BT poll result was that only 44% paid their tickets themselves or through their own company!

[PerthWA]

Ian HKG oh dear I’ve just read your post and laughed all the way to the end… Hopefully some of those terribly important travel policy makers might just read it and think “is that me?” …

Scarily, I think the new buzz word is “compliance” but … No one can actually say what we are “complying” with apart from the fact that anyone getting on a plane that isn’t part of a holiday is obviously having a really good time and not “complying” with the wannabe compliance police.

Seems we all agree travel in our jobs us a fabulous experience and we are lucky enough to be good enough to be trusted to internationally represent our companies.

The problem with this is… No one actually knows unless they’ve been on the road just how invaluable a lounge or a loo or priority bags are until they’ve done it… Endlessly. No getting over it… Travel … Best educator, biggest frustrator!

Oh and BT as for the points.. You are kidding right? I have millions of points trying to use them without paying oodles in carrier imposed taxes and charges which generally equal more than a paid for normal seat is the issue.

[PeterCoultas]

PerthWA:

your last point +1

Big differences between programs and start airports – brilliant with UA out of parts of europe but disastrous charges with Sky/One World/Star out of London (& even out of AMS/FRA)

[RHMAngel]

“trying to use them without paying oodles in carrier imposed taxes and charges which generally equal more than a paid for normal seat is the issue”

I echo PerthWA’s experience, and it winds me up slightly.

Using air miles for personal use, and finding that the taxes and charges end up coming to at least two thirds the price of the ticket on sale in the open market. THAT’s if there’s even any seats.

I read other forum posts/threads, BA seems to be the worst on long haul. So fair play I gave up long ago and now only spend BA’s miles on local European flights, taxes are minimal to be honest…

I realise there’s a quota (1-2 seats per flight for airmiles, none if its a high earning revenue route) but nonetheless, spending unless there’s alternative ground-only (no flight) options, will always mean those ‘free miles’ are a bonus, for upgrades and short hall hops around your region, and never a serious option for not paying for a long haul flight (leisure) to somewhere that’s a well served route with paying people heading that way.

This OneWorld, or StarAlliance makes things no easier to go with the ‘best’ airline for spending flights as they’re much a much-ness, a cartel. That’s why I’m upset Virgin looks like cutting its Far East slots, as that’s where I travel most on long haul for business and pleasure – its spending miles and upgrades was generally better in the availability stakes than any other airline I personal encountered (for business and pleasure).

Those miles are indeed a ‘loyalty reward’ from the airline, rather than you (or your business or the taxman) considering them as anything else… are those loyalty schemes (time for another thread)

[jsn55]

My kind of mileage run is living in California, flying to New York on an upgraded coach tix and spending two nights in a 5* hotel on my loyalty points. Oh, and I took the subway in from LGA – that was quite an experience!

[AppreciativePassenger]

Hello!

Point replies to your survey questions below:

We are running a feature on revenue-based loyalty schemes are would be interested in your thoughts and insights.

—Very well.

Are you a member of a revenue-based airline loyalty scheme such as Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards or Jetblue’s True Blue? What has your experience been like?

—No. But I was a member of US Airways Dividend Miles program. When someone siphoned off 50,000 miles from my account, US Scareways- I mean Airways never reposted them! Their indifference to this horrible situation has resulted in my flying ONLY with competitors- for several years now.

What do you think about legacy carriers such as Delta that are introducing schemes that require you to have spent a certain amount of money to achieve tier status, as opposed to simply taking a certain number of flights or flown a certain number of miles?

—“Scheme” is right! The whole idea of “loyalty” programs is to reward one choosing the carrier over competitors. So the customer can be rewarded for either the number of flights flown OR and perhaps more fairly the number of miles a customer has flown with group of associated carriers. PERIOD. Any other schemes are unethical since they essentially involve carriers looking into your wallet.

(Since January, there is a minimum spend requirement for US Delta Skymiles members to qualify for status in the 2015 Medallion programme based on the price of tickets purchased.)

Have you ever done a mileage run? What was your experience?

—What is a mileage run?

What impact on the industry/the traveller will revenue-based loyalty schemes have?

—Turns people off.

Do you think rewards based on distance or price are fairer?

—On DISTANCE flown on all associated carriers, yes. This is the most fair.

What do you think about revenue-based schemes for hotels brands such as Marriott and Hilton?

—Equally repulsive. Again, customers are being rewarded for choosing a brand from competitors. It does not matter how the customer paid for the ticket. The fact he/she has paid and flown is sufficient.

Many thanks.

—You are welcome. Hopefully, you will help them see the error of their ways and stay on the straight and honest path.

+++

[RetiredLawyer]

Ian: When I was employed in the corporate world, I had similar restrictions. These had metamorphosed over the years from reasonable to ridiculous, as the numbskulls in Corporate Travel kept reporting to the top of the house how much they had “saved” each year for the company. The apex of hair-brained schemes came when they imposed a scheme where they opened separate frequent flyer accounts for each company traveler on the preferred airline, and required all company travelers to use the company FF accounts, taking the points for corporate use.

Much of this stopped when we were “merged” into another company with different, more reasonable policies.

The real reason for much of these policies are either the low-level employees who travel once or twice per year, or the people just below c-suite whose egos are completely inflated. Neither group has any idea how to travel reasonably at reasonable expense to the company. The true frequent travelers suffer as a result.

[IanFromHKG]

RetiredLawyer, you may be amused by one of the factoids I heard from our in-house legal fees management team, who proudly reported that by reviewing invoices and making firms adhere to their (sometimes equally ridiculous) billing policies, they had managed to reduce the company’s legal spend by 3%. This just a couple of weeks after I spoke to the partner at a firm in Tokyo with whom we had been building a relationship – and for whom I had overruled virtually every adjustment made by the legal fees management team. Our conversation went something like this:
“Well, Chris, I think the relationship is going very well. Given the amount of business we are now pushing your way, how about a discount?”
“Absolutely, Ian, that seems fair. How about ten per cent.?”
“Thanks, Chris, agreed.”

The result, of course, was a law firm that didn’t feel they were being screwed down by our policies, and were happy to triple the average savings made from other firms who were being screwed down.

There’s a moral in there somewhere…

[SimonS1]

@AppreciativePassenger

Why is distance flown the most fair? If you pay 3x what someone in the next seat has paid why shouldn’t that be recognised?

[TiredOldHack]

Well, I suppose you could be rewarded for “being an idiot and paying three times as much as your seat neighbour”, but as a rewards slogan I don’t think it has staying power.

[SimonS1]

So if in making a business trip I’m forced to book a last minute flight and end up paying full fare/a shed load more than a leisure traveller who booked 8 months ago then that makes me an idiot does it?

A very helpful comment which adds to the debate, if I may say so.

Returning to the subject of the thread I don’t understand why distance flown is the ‘most fair’. Surely the airlines are looking to recognise the value of the traveller to the airline.

[TiredOldHack]

Ah, fair comment. I hadn’t considered the cost of buying tickets at the last minute.

[Author]

Posts