Back in the early 80s, American Airlines started their Advantage Program that has changed the entire travel industry. [It has also costs business millions and millions for unnecessary trips to run up the miles.] I don't know for a fact that it was their original idea because some time before that, one of the airlines--I believe TWA-- tried passing out coupons on flights that were to be applied to future ticket purchases. The businesses weren't stupid, so they demanded that any coupons collected while on company paid business trips be turned in to the company. American's little twist was that the enrollee had to be to the individual and not the company, so the companies couldn't strip the person of their perk. The resulting programs have been some that are very good, and some that try to make the buying public think they have something when they don't.
It wasn't long until others copied the American Airlines program because it was effective in getting passengers to fly on them. The hotel/motel chains also followed suit. Not knowing what was going on with others companies, I can only speculate. At IBM, there were many managers who were taking unneeded trips, purely to run up their miles. Some were even combining the point collection while carrying on affairs across the country. The hotel chain frenzy was about as bad. I witnessed crazy things like business travelors staying miles across town to collect points when it would have been much easier and more convenient to stay close to the work location. About this time, I believe it was 1988, the CRAZYs really took off. Delta Airlines started offering the triple miles option. Soon, the other airlines joined and the race was on. What was totally stupid about this promotion was that people who had to travel anyway were the people who would only collect more rewards.
There were other perks involved besides getting miles and points from these programs. After traveling or staying a certain number of times, your reward level would go up and the travel accommodations/rooms would get better and better and better. These included special telephone lines and well trained people to handle reservation or changes in plan. For air travel, it meant getting to board first, first class updates, and priority on the stand-by list among others. For hotels, the rooms could get better, and access to the afternoon cocktails and morning breakfast would occur.
Since I had joined most of these programs(not all by any means), I had first had experience in dealing with several of them. I had always liked staying with the Marriott chain, but didn't understand why stays at Residence Inns didn't offer any rewards for a very long time [they since have joined the program]. I liked the American Airlines programs except all the flights I took always made a connection going through the Dallas-Ft Worth airport. Back in the 70s, I liked the service on Delta Airlines, but in 90s, their service went into the crapper. I lived a long way to drive to catch a Continental flight, but for the early years, felt they wanted to be a top notch airline, but just weren't sure how to make it happen.
Because of a work assignment in 1998, I spent a lot of time in Huntsville, Texas and became acquainted with the LaQunita chain. They had what I would call a "want-to-be" frequent traveler program. At that time, if you stayed something like 11 nights, then they would give you a certificate good for a free nights stay within the next year. If you stayed a certain number of nights during the year, the number of nights required for the free certificate dropped to 9 nights to get a free night. Since I was there for most of the time for over a year, I had more certificates than I could ever use. Secondly, after staying away from home either 4 or 5 nights a week, the last thing I wanted to do was go somewhere and stay in a motel. Since that time, their programs has been updated where other options are available. As for staying with them, their people are some of the best in the industry along with those employed by Marriott.
Sometime during this period, the airlines and some of the hotel chains decided to change the rules of the game where the miles/points would expire if not used in a certain period of time. Again, the maneuvering got into play. Some of the airlines had issued credit cards and if used, would provide activity into the account and prevent miles from expiring. Some programs pushed the expiration date off if there was any activity with them from the date of the last activity.
So, what is the bottom line of the travel programs? As time goes by and the game and rules change, I continue to learn. For now, the American Advantage program looks to be the real deal. I classify that with several comments though. After flying 1 million miles with them, they promised a "SPECIAL" gift for my loyalty. It was a lousy paper weight!!! I flew one of their partners Quantas from Las Angeles to Sydney, and then on to Singapore and to Frankfurt, expecting miles all the way through. Guess what? In the "SMALL" print, it was only from mainland to Australia. They have let me keep my premium status even though I am retired and not traveling much these days. The key thing is that with just a little planning ahead, you can still get award tickets to prime destinations like Hawaii and Europe without using the high mileage awards that are being required by Delta and Continental. Without leaving anyone out, I'm not sure you can even classify Southwest's program as a travel program.
As for the hotel programs, I still like the Marriott program even though they have been accused of upping the points needed for free night in the best locations. The LaQunita program rolls off points if not used within a certain time period, and you have no idea when or how many will roll off. Both groups have some of the most professional people in the business. However, writing to Customer Service at LaQuinta is a waste of time. [They don't even answer.] A program that I just got reacquainted with is that of Choice Hotels. I hadn't stayed with them for over 5 years and had thought of them as a second class operation. Back in January, I was traveling and just happened to stay at one of their remote locations. It was a VERY pleasant surprise. I will visit them again.
Just be sure you know the rules of the road when signing up with any of the programs. With Delta almost in bankruptcy, one has to wonder what happens to the people who have accumulated many miles in their program if bankruptcy does occur. You should also know the rules of how and when the "travel partners" work. As I found out with Quantas, the devil is in the detail.
Happy traveling!!!
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