The sun is setting on the era of “mileage runs”—a practice by which frequent flyers clamor to rack up enough miles for elite status by the close of the calendar year.
Across the board, major airlines are pivoting their loyalty programs to reward the number of dollars spent, rather than actual miles or flight legs flown, thereby rendering this travel hack almost obsolete.
Mileage runs have reportedly been becoming less effective for years now, as carriers shift away from awarding status based on the distance or number of flights flown toward pure monetary expenditure and use of co-branded credit cards.
Earning Elite Status With Airlines
For instance, American Airlines and JetBlue, now determine elite status based solely on customer spending. While United and Southwest still factor in flight numbers, elite loyalty status is now awarded largely based on the sheer dollar amounts its customers spend.
Until it recently made changes to its own SkyMiles loyalty program that weight spending metrics most heavily, Delta Air Lines was the last bastion for mileage-based rewards among the five biggest U.S. airlines.
Person booking flight tickets on a laptop. (Photo via Motortion / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Matthew Klint, editor of travel blog ‘Live and Let’s Fly’, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that these changes to the frequent-flier program paradigm reflects, “the emerging consensus that loyalty was better measured by dollars spent rather than miles flown.” Given today’s emphasis on using airline-affiliated credit cards, it’s also clear how air carriers are growing and profiting from their partnerships with banking and financial institutions.
Delta, for one, is allowing loyalty members who have sufficient qualifying miles to roll over their status to subsequent years or convert them into qualifying dollars to put toward their 2024 standing. Such initiatives have prompted travel hackers to embark on additional year-end journeys in order to preserve their elite status for another year.
Regulatory Scrutiny, Environmental Implications
Policymakers are also taking note of these loyalty program modifications. Department of Transportation (DOT) officials have initiated dialogues with U.S. airlines to investigate complaints lodged with the agency. A DOT spokesperson told WSJ in an email, “We plan to carefully review complaints regarding loyalty programs, and exercise our authority to investigate airlines for unfair and deceptive practices that hurt travelers as warranted.”
While some travelers will rail against the alterations in airlines’ loyalty rewards structure, such programs generally keep customers coming back, opined Jay Zagorsky, an associate professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business who studies frequent-flyer programs. “People actually in some ways, deep down, don’t mind when the rules change a little bit, because it keeps things interesting,” he said.
And, while some customers may miss their mileage runs, flying simply for the sake of racking up miles seems wasteful, environmentally speaking. Last year alone, major U.S. airlines burned an estimated 16.5 billion gallons of jet fuel, producing millions of tons of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics data.
Transatlantic airplane route depicted on a globe. (Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/joegolby)
With this in mind, Alaska Airlines, which still issues mileage-based rewards, is piloting an innovative initiative in which its Mileage Plan loyalty program members can earn elite-qualifying miles by purchasing sustainable aviation fuel credits. For every $100 spent on these credits, members can accumulate 500 elite-qualifying miles, capped at 5,000 miles.
“Folks ultimately flying on planes simply to earn miles is something that we’re very mindful of,” remarked Brett Catlin, the airline’s vice president of loyalty, alliances and sales. Thousands of Alaska’s customers have already availed themselves of the opportunity, he said, which closes at the end of 2023.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
