tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post113898683158819753..comments2023-11-03T03:39:11.049-07:00Comments on Yu Hu Stewardess: Frequent Flyer Miles are as Good as CashFly Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11590611409413930695noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-45761389752886276022008-08-29T08:48:00.000-07:002008-08-29T08:48:00.000-07:00Hi. You are talking about Juniper Bank here. I sho...Hi. You are talking about <A HREF="http://juniper-bank.pissedconsumer.com" REL="nofollow">Juniper Bank</A> here. I should say they do know how to get money from you. I paid $100 dollars on my account which should have put my balance below the limit. But they charged me a $39 fee stating that I had paid by their scheduled date which is not the same as the due date and I paid my account on time. On this great site www.pissedconsumer.com I found other people who were fraud.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1139168054347915862006-02-05T11:34:00.000-08:002006-02-05T11:34:00.000-08:00Yes, the airlines share a substantial portion of t...Yes, the airlines share a substantial portion of the blame, although I'm not willing to lay 100% of it at their feet.<BR/><BR/>I'm all for realistic fare pricing! This would allow for fluctuations, though, just like at the supermarket and your milk example. When the cost of fuel, labor, etc., increase, so does the price of air fare. That's what happens in every other business -- cost increases to reflect the price of providing the goods or services.Fly Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11590611409413930695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1139122140506098822006-02-04T22:49:00.000-08:002006-02-04T22:49:00.000-08:00The airlines only have themselves to blame for thi...The airlines only have themselves to blame for this mess. It is impossible to predict how much the product is going to cost. Whether you pay very little six months in advance or a lot the day before, the plane and seat you get is the same. Imagine if everytime you went to the supermarket for some milk, it cost anywhere between 10c and $100 per gallon. As a consumer you would end up obsessed over the cost. So the airlines have now successfully trained their consumers to focus on the price. I've seen reports that even a $5 difference is enough to make people go with a "cheaper" flight.<BR/><BR/>Having inflicted this on themselves, they have to resort to anything to try and stop people making decisions purely on cost even though the products are almost identical (and getting more identical each day). Rewarding frequent flyers is about the only thing possible. The irony is that frequent flyer miles are pretty much standard - they don't wildly vary. If the airline charges 35,000 frequent flyer miles to go to Hawaii then that is it. And you can fly any 35,000 to earn those. No surprises, no randomly fluctuating prices etc.<BR/><BR/>What I would really like to see is sane and sensible pricing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1139071067470784332006-02-04T08:37:00.000-08:002006-02-04T08:37:00.000-08:00Astroprof: Free is just that, free. No use of mi...Astroprof: Free is just that, free. No use of miles required. If miles are used, it's considered a "paid" upgrade because the passenger is "paying" in miles.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Pacific Dude: I know that the upgrades are enticement for some people, and aren't for others. With few exceptions, I think most people shop for price, rather than brand loyalty. Many corporate travel departments operate and choose on the guideline of lowest pricing.<BR/><BR/>Gary: Yep. That's the way it's supposed to work. "Supposed" to is the big qualifier here. If that's the way it happened, you wouldn't hear as many complaints. Doesn't always work that way, though.Fly Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11590611409413930695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1139069492696195492006-02-04T08:11:00.000-08:002006-02-04T08:11:00.000-08:00fly girl, if upgrades are displacing full fare F t...fly girl, if upgrades are displacing full fare F then the problem isn't with the mileage programs it's with the airline's yield management folks. Upgrades come out of restricted inventory classes that should have availability no greater than the seats that will otherwise go unsold.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1139017751594258772006-02-03T17:49:00.000-08:002006-02-03T17:49:00.000-08:00Well, to be devil's advocate here, I have to say t...Well, to be devil's advocate here, I have to say that I know a number of people in our corporation who fly one particular airline any chance they get because they're apt to get the free upgrades from all their frequent flying. They're putty in the palms of the marketing department, doing exactly what they're supposed to. These folks sink considerable amounts of $/£/¥/€ into the airline industry every week. If this airline doesn't give them perks, they'll move on to someone who will. It's an unfortunate thing for the airlines, eat or be eaten.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1139001620863201662006-02-03T13:20:00.000-08:002006-02-03T13:20:00.000-08:00Oh. I may have gotten caught in terminology. I w...Oh. I may have gotten caught in terminology. I was thinking that the free upgrades <I> were </I> cashing in frequent flier miles. So, what is the difference?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1138994064020844162006-02-03T11:14:00.000-08:002006-02-03T11:14:00.000-08:00Gary: I think we've always known that it's not ju...Gary: I think we've always known that it's not just the transportation business anymore, it's just hard to accept sometimes.<BR/><BR/>Astroprof: I have no problem with rewarding frequent flyers with free upgrades -- if the seats are empty. But a free upgrade should not result in a full fare first class passenger not being able to buy a seat. I've seen it happen all too many times. <BR/><BR/>Free upgrades are different from cashing in miles for an upgrade.Fly Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11590611409413930695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1138992584903909882006-02-03T10:49:00.000-08:002006-02-03T10:49:00.000-08:00Even if 1st class is only upgrades, then it seems ...Even if 1st class is only upgrades, then it seems that it would still be a good idea to reward people who are regular customers with some perks. That way they always buy tickets with your airline instead of the competitors. Now-a-days, there is little proclivity towards brand loyalty, so you have to entice people to stick with one brand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15427151.post-1138987448179770052006-02-03T09:24:00.000-08:002006-02-03T09:24:00.000-08:00Not just in the transportation business anymore? ...Not just in the transportation business <I>anymore</I>? The only reason United is still in business is to support the underlying credit card business. The bank which issues their co-branded Visa card was the lead provider of debtor-in-possession financing and then came back with more for their exit financing.<BR/><BR/>The only truly consistently profitable part of United has been its Mileage Plus program...<BR/><BR/>American Express pre-purchased half a <I>billion</I> dollars worth of miles and extended an additional hundred million dollars' credit in an attempt to keep Delta out of bankruptcy.<BR/><BR/>Juniper bank kicked in about $400mm to the merger of America West and USAirways, and got to issue their co-branded credit card in return.<BR/><BR/>Those miles have kept the planes flying!<BR/><BR/>And the hyper accumulators of those miles generated revenue for the airline before ever getting seated up front. ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com