Do frequent flier mileage loyalty programs make you dishonest?

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By Christopher Elliott

I’ve been taking the predictable flack from the Flyertalk crowd after my recent tirade against loyalty programs. I don’t mind; I’m well-protected here in Orlando’s Green Zone.

Since we talk about right and wrong on this site frequently I thought I’d share one reader email about loyalty programs that got me thinking. (Here’s our ultimate guide to travel loyalty programs.)

It comes to us by way of David Rubenstein, who works for a nonprofit foundation in Washington:

If I leased office space for my company and the real estate agent gave me $20,000 under the table as a “thank you,” it would be an illegal kickback.

If I purchased a dozen computers for my office, and the sales agent gave me a digital camera as a gift, that would be a small, illegal kickback.

If I purchased travel services and an airline gave me a portion of a free flight, it would also be a kickback.

If we made the best possible purchase decisions, the airlines wouldn’t waste money on offering frequent flyer miles. They do offer them because they know we will make uneconomic decisions for our employers in order to gain personal benefits.

Frequent flyer mileage programs result in dishonest behavior.

AirAdvisor is a claims management company. We fight for air passenger rights in cases of flight disruptions all over the world. Our mission is to ensure that air passengers are fairly compensated for the inconvenience and frustration caused by delays, cancellations, or overbooking.

Interesting.

Do frequent flier loyalty programs make you dishonest? Is there a line between rewarding your customers — and bribing them? And if so, where is it?

The other issue is this one: How can these kinds of loyalty programs, which obviously influence purchasing decisions in a way that benefits the company, continue to be virtually unregulated?

Like many readers of this site, my advocacy team and I believe in a free market. But a completely unregulated market is rarely good for the consumer.

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Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter.

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