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Frequent Flying Turns 25

January 3, 2006 at 11:11 AM | 0 Comments

Could it really be true that frequent flier programs are only 25 years old? For something that's so ingrained, that's not very long. Begun in 1981 by American, the initial program had just 283,000 people enrolled. Now there are literally trillions of miles out there stockpiled in various FF programs, with 75 million people enrolled throughout the world in at least one. As the Star-Telegram reports, the programs are facing more than a few growing pains. For one thing, the cheaper tickets of discount carriers like Southwest and JetBlue have effectively made the free-flight rewards worth less than then ever have been before -- about a penny a mile, down from two cents just a few years ago.

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