Well the airline can have the best of both worlds by requiring you to = pay a higher fare (more revenue) in exchange for that upgrade (reduced = liability). You are still saving a huge amount of money over what you should legitimately be paying to occupy that F seat. You are both winners in = my book. Mark -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael C. Berch Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 8:01 PM To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: NYTimes.com Article: The Anger of the Long-Distance Flier On Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 07:40 PM, Mark Greenwood wrote: > There is a cost associated with operating frequent flier programs, I=20 > believe the going rate is 3 to 4 cents a point and the carriers carry=20 > a liability > for those points. Air Canada took the same step a couple of years ago. > They > even went so far as to restrict the fares that one can upgrade from. > If you > have paid any of the three lowest fares on domestic or transborder > routes, > you can't upgrade. Times have changed, you can't expect a First Class > seat > for the cheapest fare the airline offers. It is only good business to > tie > the reward to the amount of revenue generated for the carrier. What you say is correct, but remember to compare "revenue" with = "removing liabilities". Both have impact on the bottom line. In other words, I = don't feel whiny about trying to obtain an F seat as a FF upgrade from my = cheap fare, or using FF miles entirely, because I'm offering to reduce the liability on their balance sheet (the miles I have accrued) in exchange = for that seat. If that flight leaves with a bunch of F seats empty because the airline declined the opportunity to reduce its liability by redeeming miles from cheap fare customers, too bad for them. -- Michael C. Berch mcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.509 / Virus Database: 306 - Release Date: 12/08/2003 =20 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.509 / Virus Database: 306 - Release Date: 12/08/2003 =20