Response to poor service by airlines has nurtured reaction from senior travelers as well. This is from Ed Perkin's piece at Smarter Travel, "Airlines to seniors: Drop dead":
What happened to airline loyalty programs?Posted by rollingrains at January 23, 2008 04:17 PMThe big airlines have also treated seniors shabbily through their frequent flyer programs. To be sure, the airlines kept showering you with miles during the year, and especially with miles you earned other than by flying—on your credit cards, as bonuses for various purchases, and such. But what they gave you with one hand, they more than took away with the other:
* All the big lines other than Northwest now cancel your accumulated miles if you don't show account activity within the most recent 18 to 24 months. And, this year, many of them revised the fine print to permit unilateral changes in program rules with only a 30-day notice.
* Continental and Delta tightened up on award rules, hiking the mileage requirements for some awards (Continental) or no longer allowing travelers to book any available seat for double to triple the usual miles (Delta).
* All the lines have been making it increasingly difficult to find frequent flyer seats at the base award levels, especially on the more popular vacation routes. And, in my experience, upgrades and premium-class award seats are almost impossible to score without paying double to triple the base number of miles.
* Several lines have hiked the various fees they charge when you try to book a "free" seat, including charges for bookings made fewer than 20 days in advance, charges for refunding miles for unused tickets, and charges for phone bookings.Seniors are apt to be especially vulnerable to frequent flyer devaluations. Many earn miles more slowly than the average frequent flyers. Many prefer to use miles for long trips to popular destinations. Many prefer—even need—the extra space and comfort of business- or first-class seats. And many have to save miles over a period of up to three years to accumulate enough for those purposes.