Frequent Fliers Are Fed Up With Loyalty Programs
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Why are travelers fed up with modern airline loyalty programs?
Here's your money briefing for Thursday, January 23rd. I'm Arianna Espuru for The Wall Street Journal. After airlines cut perks and raised requirements to travel with a high loyalty status, some customers are done with their loyalty programs.
Upgrades are harder to come by these days. So if you are someone with a high level of status looking to get a cheap ticket and then get upgraded for free, that's not a given. People feel like they're not getting their money's worth like they used to.
We'll talk with Wall Street Journal reporter Jacob Passy about what frequent flyers are doing to save money after the break.
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How have airlines changed loyalty rules and who loses out?
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Fed up with the ever-changing rules around airline loyalty programs? Maybe it's time to become a free agent. Wall Street Journal reporter Jacob Passi joins me. Jacob, why are travelers getting tired of navigating the ins and outs of loyalty programs?
For starters, a lot of the major airlines have changed up their loyalty programs in recent years. They've put a greater emphasis on how much you spend with the airline or on their credit cards rather than how often you travel. So for these like road warrior types who are traveling a lot for work and not necessarily booking themselves expensive tickets – It's not as easy to climb that status ladder in these different programs. And then also the cost of travel is pretty expensive still. And they sort of say it's getting harder to justify that cost, especially to clients if they're, again, traveling for business rather than seeing what's out there and where they can get cheaper airfare.
And how have those like sweet perks that first drew people in to these programs changed in recent years?
One of the big changes we've seen comes with lounge access. A lot of airlines have had to reevaluate who they give access to, how they limit access because lounges have become quite overcrowded in a lot of airports across the country. It's not uncommon at some of the major hubs to have to wait 30 minutes, an hour or so to just get into the lounge. So, you know, if that's one of those perks that you're relying on, it's harder to come by.
How have perks like lounge access and upgrades been reduced?
Also, upgrades are harder to come by these days. The airlines themselves have been strategizing to get more paying customers into business class and premium economy seats. So if you are someone with a high level of status looking to get a cheap ticket and then get upgraded for free, that's not a given. And so when you start adding those factors up, people feel like they're not getting their money's worth like they used to.
The lounges, upgrades, points are all part of this allure of enhancing the experience of travel. Are people less interested in that?
What my sources told me is there's this shift going on where people are increasingly viewing air travel more like a commodity. There's this idea that the experience really doesn't vary a whole lot from carrier to carrier. And there's more of an emphasis being placed on just getting to your ultimate destination and not worrying so much about how you get there.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:33
2
Why are travelers fed up with modern airline loyalty programs?
0:33–1:30
3
How have airlines changed loyalty rules and who loses out?
1:30–3:22
4
How have perks like lounge access and upgrades been reduced?
3:22–5:48
5
Why are younger travelers more likely to go status-free?
5:48–8:22
6
What advantages do credit-card travel programs offer over airline loyalty?
8:22–8:26
Speakers
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