The future of frequent flyer programs - loyalty versus revenue?

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markis10

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Interesting move by Delta, if it was adopted here would it change your activity?

Flying on most airlines has lost its thrill. It's a sad truth that almost all veteran travelers know.

The glamour that was once air travel has long been grounded by the industry’s economic realities, and only those willing to pay out top dollar for the best tickets can still look forward to anything approaching a comfortable and relatively hassle-free trip.


But even the perks associated with frequent flier programs are getting more stratified -- and will depend on the amount you spend on tickets, and not just the number of miles flown.


Last week, Delta Air Lines (DAL +2.94%) announced it was changing the requirements for its SkyMiles Medallion customers in the United States. The company says its move "follows an industry trend of rewarding customers based on dollars spent."


And those changes are expected to break ground for other air carriers.

Airlines tighten frequent-flier rules- MSN Money
 
SQ has this via PPS
QF and VA effectively have some element of this by virtue of the minimum flights segments on QF/ VA metal.
 
SQ has this via PPS
QF and VA effectively have some element of this by virtue of the minimum flights segments on QF/ VA metal.

This is the interesting part - would keep the ATO busy ;)

Customers who charge $25,000 a year in eligible purchases on their American Express (AXP -0.64%) Delta SkyMiles card get to breeze to the top of the ranking system.
 
Would make JASA's etc interesting value. How would you value the points used to fly what is effectively a full value fare?

A point of differentiation with Qf is that SCs are the way that status is determined regardless of how many points you actually have.
 
The status credit system works perfectly for rewarding money spent. Discount Y, Full Y, J and F all have different status earn rates to reflect the money spent.
 
The status credit system works perfectly for rewarding money spent. Discount Y, Full Y, J and F all have different status earn rates to reflect the money spent.

Not really, how does it reward a frequent spender who rarely flys, the move by Delta addresses this perceived issue!
 
Not really, how does it reward a frequent spender who rarely flys, the move by Delta addresses this perceived issue!

On Qf no matter how many FF points you have you don't have status. You actually need to do the BIS miles to earn SCs and attain the resultant status.
 
The spending on the Amex card bit would be great (as long as it wasn't required to be on actual airline tickets so would depend on what the eligible purchases were) as would qualify up the top no probs...

As for all the rest, as long as USDM doesn't adopt something similar and require a certain amount of money to be spent on revenue flights or a certain number of flights on US metal to effect redemptions i'm all happy, or will simply switch to another FF program who fits my needs at the price points i want as I really only worry about the value of the proposition which boils down to dollars and cents...
 
I would love to be able to get a Delta CC.I would be top tier very quickly.
But seriously QFF is a very profitable entity.Why would QF want to destroy it.
Velocity was initially based on spend,wasn't doing much good until the relaunch.Cant really see them going back.
AA-no props.LTP and spending miles more than earning now.
 
On Qf no matter how many FF points you have you don't have status. You actually need to do the BIS miles to earn SCs and attain the resultant status.

Not really true - if you earn the miles on your card and use JASAs or ASAs, you can achieve the status with no spend to QF.
 
Not really true - if you earn the miles on your card and use JASAs or ASAs, you can achieve the status with no spend to QF.

It is true. A JASA involves BIS miles.

and QF are making good money out of selling those points, so there is revenue there for them....
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

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Not really, how does it reward a frequent spender who rarely flys, the move by Delta addresses this perceived issue!

It rewards you based on spending money to do that thing airlines do.

QF/VA say a SYD-MEL flight.
Discount Y $100 tkt: 10sc
Full Y $250 tkt: 20sc
J $500 tkt: 40sc

Rewarding based on money put through the airline not for miles earnt buying groceries.
 
It rewards you based on spending money to do that thing airlines do.

QF/VA say a SYD-MEL flight.
Discount Y $100 tkt: 10sc
Full Y $250 tkt: 20sc
J $500 tkt: 40sc

Rewarding based on money put through the airline not for miles earnt buying groceries.

The point is that airlines like delta are looking at rewarding those who put money to them via any channel, including only by an affiliated credit card, the current SC system does not do this in the context of the 9M frequent flyer members of which probably only 1M are actually frequent flyers!

I could have achieved the same result of flying 5 of the J sectors in your example by applying for a credit card last year ;), or use my Amex to get me CX status ;)
 
Finally this is to happen with details at FT-
SkyMiles Program to Change Based on Revenue Instead of Miles for 2015 | The Gate=

Generally, the change is expected to be effective as of January 1, 2015 where members of the SkyMiles frequent flier loyalty program can earn anywhere from five to as many as thirteen SkyMiles per United States dollar paid for the base airfare and surcharges imposed by the airline, depending on your Medallion elite status level:

So no more mileage runs?
Certainly will be a problem for many of us if all airlines follow this.For instance looking at New York-ATL next year on AA/US and cheapest Y fare $352.60 but instant upgrade-$356.10.
 
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