Source: New York Times
Author: CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

An elite-level frequent flier card used to be a passport to a better flying experience, offering access to special waiting areas, preferred seating and priority first-class upgrades.

But lately, frequent flier status has come to represent something else to many business travelers: a de facto insurance policy against more declines in customer service.

Airlines are reserving more choice seats for their best customers, often leaving nonelites wedged in cramped spaces. They are creating separate areas where their best customers can check in, get screened and even board faster. Those passengers without status often must stand in lines that seem to be getting longer and longer.

There are even discussions about whether to begin charging passengers for checking in luggage or advance seat assignments; card-carrying elites would most likely be exempt from those fees.

“Basically, the airlines are saying that if you’re a frequent flier, you’ll be protected against cuts in services and amenities,” said Tim Winship, the co-author of “Mileage Pro: The Insider’s Guide to Frequent Flyer Programs” (OAG Worldwide, 2005) and the editor of the Web site Frequentflier.com. “It’s a subtle but important switch from the early days of loyalty programs, when belonging to a frequent flier program meant that you would be given additional services that went above and beyond the already good service you were getting.”

Passengers have noticed a shift, too. “Becoming an elite flier doesn’t mean you get anything extra,” said Christopher Howes, a product manager from Minneapolis, who is a Northwest Airlines frequent flier. “It just means that you avoid some of the headaches and hassles that are becoming more common.”

Airlines deny that they have changed their approach to loyalty programs. Recent modifications to their frequent flier benefits, they assert, have increased the benefits of membership while maintaining a consistent level of service for the balance of their passengers.

“We’re not saying, ‘We’ll take care of our best customers, and everyone else can go stand in a line,’ ” said Graham Atkinson, an executive vice president and chief customer officer at United Airlines. “What we are saying is that for people who are going to demonstrate their loyalty or pay higher fares, we want to offer a better experience.”

United recently limited its Economy Plus seats at the front of the economy-class section — where seats have five extra inches of legroom — to frequent fliers. Before that, travelers who paid more for their airline ticket, but were not elite fliers, could also get a seat assignment in that part of the plane. Separate security screening lines for its top-tier customers have also been added at many airports that United serves.

More changes are in the works. United is testing a new check-in and boarding procedure at San Francisco International Airport that completely separates elites from other passengers. Frequent fliers are checked in, screened and boarded in their own lines. The new program, tentatively called Airport Premier Services, will be added at United’s hubs in Chicago and Washington in early 2007, and at an undetermined number of other airports later in the year.

United is also considering whether to charge some economy-class passengers a fee for checked luggage and advance seat assignments in exchange for a deeper discount on a ticket. Currently, it does not charge for seat assignments and allows passengers to check two bags, each up to 50 pounds, free. Elites who buy these cheaper fares would probably be exempt from the fees. The airline says that the new tickets represent another choice for passengers rather than the removal of basic amenities.

“We’re trying to identify things that people are willing to pay for,” Mr. Atkinson said.

Other airlines are also making changes to their programs, but like United, they chafe at the suggestion that nonelites are suffering as a result.

Northwest Airlines, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, also added separate elite boarding lines earlier this year at many airports. It reclassified some of its exit row seats and certain desirable seats in the front of the economy class section as Coach Choice seats, for which it charges nonelites $15 a seat assignment. However, elite-level frequent fliers are exempt from the fee. A Northwest Airlines spokesman, Roman Blahoski, said the changes were “a way for Northwest to reward and recognize our most loyal customers.”

But other airlines are reluctant to remove amenities that were once available to all of their passengers and return them to only their frequent fliers. US Airways has added elites-only boarding lines, but stopped short of partitioning its economy-class cabin. It also turned down two ideas, at least for now: charging nonelites to check luggage and making them pay for soft drinks. “Any changes we make need to increase the value of our frequent flier program — not downgrade the flying experience for nonelites,” said Travis Christ, a vice president of marketing at US Airways.

American Airlines has also been reluctant to join other airlines in cutting services to nonelite passengers. Although it offers separate security lines for frequent fliers, it maintains a single economy-class cabin. It recently tested — but then abandoned — a plan to charge passengers for soft drinks on American Eagle, its regional carrier. “You want to take care of your good customers first, but you have to strike a balance,” said Billy Sanez, a spokesman for the airline. “You have to be fair to both.”

Still, experts on loyalty programs believe more changes are inevitable. Not only do the changes generate income for airline, but they also encourage passengers to sign up for a frequent flier program and stay loyal to a carrier, said Hal Brierley, the president and chief executive of Brierley & Partners, a loyalty program design firm based in Dallas.

“The airlines are finding that at least some passengers will pay a bit extra for added comfort, like more leg room or an exit row seat,” he said. “Letting loyal frequent fliers enjoy that comfort for free is one more way carriers like Northwest and United are rewarding their frequent travelers, and creating an opportunity cost for those who do not remain loyal.”

Being a frequent flier may not always be enough, though. Richard Wong, a lawyer in Washington who is a United and American frequent flier, said there was a pecking order among elites to get perks that used to be available to anyone. Often, on fuller flights, even the lower-level elites are shut out of the desirable economy-class seats.

“You don’t just have to be a frequent flier to get a better seat assignment,” he said. “You have to be a high-level elite. Otherwise, you could be stuck in the back of the plane.”