American Airlines just announced a series of reductions in its frequent flier benefits, effective next February. Although the cutbacks are modest, they continue the long-term trend of erosion of the value of frequent flier credit — an erosion that has been going on almost as long as the frequent flier programs, themselves. And because American is a trend-setter, I wouldn’t be surprised to see other lines copy American’s benefit squeeze.
Predictably, the primary effect of American’s reductions is to make it harder for travelers to use mileage as a way of escaping cattle-car Coach. Instead of 20,000 miles, you’ll now need 30,000 miles to upgrade a domestic Coach excursion ticket — to Business Class (on three-class planes) or First Class (on two-class planes). The credit required for a Business Class round-trip to Europe will increase from 80,000 miles to 90,000 miles, a First Class ticket will go up from 100,000 miles to 125,000 miles, and an upgrade from an Economy excursion ticket to Business Class will go up from 40,000 miles to 50,000 miles.
Travelers who don’t mind the crowding of Coach/Economy will fare better. The basic domestic Coach award will remain at the industry standard of 25,000 miles, and an off-peak Economy trip to Europe will remain at 40,000 miles. However, there are no significant advantages to the new award schedule: American offers no substantial cuts in the credit required for any trip.
Why “predictably” about the tightening of upgrades and premium-class tickets? Because all the big airlines are finding that their best customers — the frequent-traveler “road warriors” who provide so much of their business — are increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of service they receive in Coach. To keep those valuable customers happy, the big lines are making it easier for them to upgrade to Business or First Class.
Unfortunately, upgrades seem to be a “zero-sum” game. Airlines don’t have enough Business and First Class seats to take care of all the travelers who are eligible for upgrades of one form or another. So the more upgrades airlines give to their full-fare travelers, the fewer are available to travelers on less expensive tickets. I’m sure that’s the reason behind American’s new award schedule — it’s designed to cut down on the number of leisure travelers in Business or First Class, to make room for more travelers who buy expensive tickets.
Although that policy may make sense to American (and other big airlines), it’s bad news for the average traveler. For most of us, frequent flier upgrades are about the only affordable way to escape the tiny seats and poor service we get in Coach. American’s new formula makes it a bit harder for us to do that.
For now, American is the only line to announce a cutback in frequent flier benefits. But American pioneered the entire frequent flier concept, and other lines may well follow its lead. If that happens, leisure travelers will find ever-increasing barriers when they try to avoid the hassles and discomforts of Coach travel.
