People ready to fly again may want to prioritize redeeming their airline miles, rather than trying to earn new ones.
A glut of unused reward miles may push airlines to change their frequent flyer programs in ways that could disadvantage some customers, warns ValuePenguin, one of LendingTree’s financial research websites.
A review of annual filings of five U.S. airlines — Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue — shows reward program liabilities grew to a combined $27.5 billion last year, a spike of 11.6% over the year before, according to ValuePenguin.
Additionally, a rush to redeem miles is expected at a time when the badly battered airline industry needs cash-paying customers at the ticket counter.