Airline Miles
Frequent Flyers Warned About Sitting on Mountain of Unused Miles
- Airlines’ liabilities tied to loyalty programs swelled in 2020
- Carriers could begin devaluing points and miles, analyst warns
This article is for subscribers only.
Frequent flyers, consider yourselves warned: Sitting on a pile of unused airline miles could cost you.
Liabilities tied to the five most valuable airline-loyalty programs in the U.S. soared almost 12% to $27.5 billion last year, according to new analysis by LendingTree Inc.’s consumer-finance website ValuePenguin. Airlines looking to shore up their balance sheets could reduce the value of those rewards or reinstate policies that allow miles or points to expire, the firm warned.