Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently launched an investigation into frequent flier programs.
Are you an AAdvantage proponent ? A Delta Skymiles buff or in the Southwest Rapid Rewards squadron ? Between the burden of pledging your loyalty to a unmarried carrier and forgetting your airline rewards word for the 5th prison term to fret over how to cash in out and use those well - take in points , frequent flier programs can be dizzying .
But if you feel that way , you ’re not alone . The Biden administration , specifically Transportation SecretaryPete Buttigieg , is thinking the same thing . Buttigiegwroteto the CEOs of American , Delta , Southwest , and United last week , asking for each of the companies to explain how theirreward systemfunctions . Each air hose was asked to cover on the policies , fees , and feature of the program .
There was a 70 % increment in complaint about credit card rewards programs last class from pre - pandemic levels , grant to theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau . The total of more than 1,200 complaints was announced at a Transportation Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hearing in May , where frequent flier point arrangement were on the schedule for discussion .
Photo courtesy of San Francisco International Airport
client of airline rewards programs often complain that air hose arecutting backon loyalty benefit by raising the number of points need to earn a free flight or assign a hood on the number of hindquarters that can be buy with those points .
People matter on being able-bodied to pay for vacations and trip to visit their families with those rewards full point , accord to Buttigieg . But because they ’re operated by companies that can change the economic value of a level on a whim , the Transportation Department ’s finish is to “ insure customers are getting the note value that was assure to them . ”
And he ’s right . We use airline business points to getwildly chinchy first - course tickets , take far - flungtrips for a bargain , and upgrade forlounge access , so here ’s hoping Buttigieg ’s investigation go to a bit more transparency and fairness .
