Robert Lalah, Staff Reporter
THE PROGRAMME that allows discounted or even free travel on airlines as reward for frequent travel, is among the fastest growing phenomena of the past two decades.
Randy Petersen, editor of Inside Flyer magazine, compiled an astounding list of frequent flyer facts, that has been posted on the website, www.web flyer.com, and which really boggles the mind.
The study revealed that there are over 120 million members of frequent-flyer programmes worldwide! Most of these members reside in the United States (74 million), Europe (24 million) and Asia (21 million).
The study further revealed that the American AAdvantage programme is the largest frequent flyer programme in the world. It began with 283,000 members in 1981 and has grown to more than 45 million members. More than 11,000 new members enrolled in the programme each day in 2001 -- 20 years after the programme started.
There are about 92 frequent flyer/guest programmes in the world, with the average active member of these programmes earning 11,364 miles per year. It is, however, estimated that some 307,000 frequent flyers have earned at least one million miles in their programmes.
Believe it or not, in the first 20 years of frequent-flyer programmes, 9.77 trillion miles have been accumulated!
There were 14 million award tickets given away in 2001 alone. The current record for the largest number of frequent-flyer miles in one account is just over 23 million miles.
NOT CONVINCED
So after all that, you've probably had your fill of figures. You have to admit though, that the world has indeed gone frequent-flyer crazy. Not convinced? Well hear this: Midwest Airlines, a U.S.-based carrier, recently announced a new programme that gives pets yes, pets a free round-trip ticket for every three domestic round-trip flights they take with their owners.
According to Associated Press writer Ryan Nakashima, Mid-west's human passengers get free round-trips at 25,000 miles a mileage requirement that frequently requires more than three domestic round-trips.
Jamaicans are of course, not ones to be left out of things en vogue. Our own Air Jamaica is very much in on the action with its '7th Heaven Fly Free Programme', where a customer who flies seven times with the carrier on a particular route, flies free next time around. Points can also be earned with every swipe of a credit card.
According to the Airline's website, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) 'Travel Master' Master Card, which is denominated in U.S. dollars, can be used anywhere in the world where MasterCard is accepted. Every time you use it to purchase goods and services whether in Jamaica or overseas you earn trip credits towards free travel on Air Jamaica, as well as equivalent miles towards free travel on Air Jamaica's frequent-flyer airline partners. For every U$1,700 spent, a customer earns half a trip credit.
Linda James, an informal commercial importer from St. Andrew, swears by the frequent-flyer programme. She said she travels abroad frequently to purchase clothing items which she then sells in Jamaica. She said the frequent-flyer programme is a godsend. "A plane ticket is very expensive. It's one of the most costly parts of my business, especially because I fly so often. It really helps a lot to know that each time I fly, I'm actually putting money toward a future trip. It's like money in the bank," she said.
Not her real name
