Frequent flyers feel airlines must do more to repay loyalty

Mumbai: The number of ways to earn and spend frequent flyer mileage points may have gone up, but so have the grievances of frequent flyers, who feel airlines aren't doing enough to pamper them for being loyal to a full-service carrier despite the lure of low-cost fares.
"The three main add-ons offered by frequent flyer programmes are ticket upgrades, lounge access and free tickets," says Kapil Arora of global consultancy firm Ernst and Young. Of the three incentives, the only incentive exclusive to the frequent flyer programme these days is that of redeeming mileage points to buy a free ticket. The other two incentives can be had without a frequent flyer mile card. Many credit card companies offer lounge access and there are varied ways to get ticket upgrades - like from economy to business -- be it for government or private airlines. This seems to have created some problems.
"Also, a frequent flyer feels cheated when he has redeemed his points for an upgrade to business class only to see an economy class flyer take the adjacent seat as the flight was overbooked," says Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India and a frequent flyer based in Chennai. "It is a common occurrence on Colombo-Chennai, Colombo-Mumbai flights," he says, adding that in the last four to five years instances of overbooking and subsequent free upgrades have gone up greatly.
25/09/11 Manju V/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Sep 2011