Service in sky may be 5-star, but on ground, it’s different

New Delhi: The domestic airline industry may boast of five-star service in the air, but it can’t stop flyers from complaining about the after-sale service being provided by the airlines on the ground.The latest gripes are about the frequent flyer programmes.
Examples of harried customers abound. A frequent flyer member with Kingfisher Airlines went through a nightmarish experience in getting her frequent flyer miles converted into a free ticket. In the process, she had to threaten legal repercussions to get what was her due.
Jet Airways, which has about 1.5 million JetPrivilege members, it seems, is no different. A frequent flyer had to remember all the rules that he had learnt in his previous job with a global airline to get out of paying the fuel surcharge while redeeming frequent flyer miles for a free ticket.
One reason for airlines dragging their feet while redeeming frequent flyer miles is that membership has been going up steadily. But these miles do not generate any income for the carrier.
An idea of the numbers involved can perhaps be had from an article in The Economist published four years ago. It had suggested that the total stock of unredeemed miles was worth more than all the dollar bills in circulation! Today, even with all the stimulus packages unleashed by the US government, the miles might well be more.
12/04/09 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2009