Frequent flyers have spent years staying loyal to airlines. Now airlines are giving them ‘the middle finger’
Imagine you’re booking a flight. For most people, it’s an easy decision: the cheapest fare or the easiest route will be the one to win out. But for many, it’s a different scenario. They’re willing to spend more, fly at awkward times or even make multiple connections to reach their destination — all to earn airline loyalty points. This is the dance of the frequent flyer program — often a costly dance, but one that reaps benefits in the form of lounge access, free seat selection, priority security and other things that make flying in the crowded 21st century a little more bearable — as long as you spend or fly enough to earn enough points to reach the “elite” tiers of airlines’ loyalty programs. But with airlines increasingly changing their programs to make it harder to accrue status, has the points bubble burst? “Earning real value from airline loyalty programs is tougher than ever,” says Kyle Olsen, travel products editor at CNN Underscored. “Airlines have raised [flight] redemption costs and made rewards less valuable. Higher spending requirements make status harder to achieve. Dynamic pricing means award flights cost more points than before.” This year, three carriers in the Oneworld airline alliance — British Airways, Iberia and Qantas — will change their loyalty schemes. From April, it’ll be harder to achieve status on the first two, while from August, spending loyalty points on Qantas will require a higher spend. Rob Burgess, editor of “avgeek” website Head for Points, calls it a “downward trend.” “BA and Iberia are turning their programs into recognition schemes for their biggest spenders rather than loyalty schemes,” he says. Those Oneworld changes come on the heels of Delta Air Lines, whose much criticized toughening up of their own program made it tougher to acquire status last year. CEO Ed Bastian cited crowded lounges as one reason for the changes. Suddenly the “elites” weren’t feeling so … elite.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2025-02-24/general/frequent-flyers-have-spent-years-staying-loyal-to-airlines-now-airlines-are-giving-them-2018the-middle-finger2019
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Frequent flyers have spent years staying loyal to airlines. Now airlines are giving them ‘the middle finger’
Imagine you’re booking a flight. For most people, it’s an easy decision: the cheapest fare or the easiest route will be the one to win out. But for many, it’s a different scenario. They’re willing to spend more, fly at awkward times or even make multiple connections to reach their destination — all to earn airline loyalty points. This is the dance of the frequent flyer program — often a costly dance, but one that reaps benefits in the form of lounge access, free seat selection, priority security and other things that make flying in the crowded 21st century a little more bearable — as long as you spend or fly enough to earn enough points to reach the “elite” tiers of airlines’ loyalty programs. But with airlines increasingly changing their programs to make it harder to accrue status, has the points bubble burst? “Earning real value from airline loyalty programs is tougher than ever,” says Kyle Olsen, travel products editor at CNN Underscored. “Airlines have raised [flight] redemption costs and made rewards less valuable. Higher spending requirements make status harder to achieve. Dynamic pricing means award flights cost more points than before.” This year, three carriers in the Oneworld airline alliance — British Airways, Iberia and Qantas — will change their loyalty schemes. From April, it’ll be harder to achieve status on the first two, while from August, spending loyalty points on Qantas will require a higher spend. Rob Burgess, editor of “avgeek” website Head for Points, calls it a “downward trend.” “BA and Iberia are turning their programs into recognition schemes for their biggest spenders rather than loyalty schemes,” he says. Those Oneworld changes come on the heels of Delta Air Lines, whose much criticized toughening up of their own program made it tougher to acquire status last year. CEO Ed Bastian cited crowded lounges as one reason for the changes. Suddenly the “elites” weren’t feeling so … elite.<br/>
