The IHT's Roger Collis asks, "Earning miles: Is it worth it?"

From the IHT, another take on an eternal question:

I was a lone consumer voice in Bangkok last month at the Frequent Flier Conference 2006, a gathering of nearly 200 airline and systems software executives.

 

The first question to the panel was, "What is the role of frequent-flier programs in the overall marketing mix?" To which I found myself replying, "To con travelers into thinking that they'll get a free lunch." The corollary is, "Do you want to pay top dollar for a full- fare ticket and earn miles that you may find hard to redeem, or pass on the miles and buy a discounted business- class ticket for less than half the published price?"