Travel Loyalty News

Delta believes through such actions it is protecting its intellectual property, but its actions alienate loyal customers who don't want to be locked into Delta's clunky services to access their loyalty information.

While legacy carriers seem intent on alienating their most loyal customers with expiring points and fewer seat options, JetBlue and Virgin see the programs for what they are: a way to retain their best customers.

Travel managers can provide certain perks, but smart independent travelers can get similar deals and keep all the loyalty rewards for themselves -- one reason more business travelers are going rogue.

Bag fees are not against Southwest's religion and, with the acquisition of checked-bag-fee charging AirTran, management is undoubtedly mulling whether to see the green light.

Rocking the boat while going through a bankruptcy is unusual for an airline. And how many such frequent flyers are there anyway?

Finally, a way to make social media addiction pay. Every location-based update a user makes to linked social media accounts -- no matter the number of followers they have -- gives them loyalty points equal to what spending $20 does.

Clinton's current count is at 102 countries visited and she still has six months to rack up more stamps on her passport. If only she got loyalty points for her air miles ...

As airlines get better at passenger profiling they will drive greater loyalty among frequent flyers, but they should make sure the the gap between high-flyer and leisure traveler isn't so wide that potential customers get turned off.