Exclusive Clubs, Companion Passes, Priority Boarding Just To Name A Few

While it's not a seat up in the pointy end of the airplane ... yet ... airlines are doing pretty much what ever else they can to hang on to customers who fly hundreds of thousands of miles every year.

A report in the New York Times outlines some of the perks reserved for passengers who may fly 125,000 miles or more every year. Delta, Continental and others offer access to special clubs, priority seat selection, the ability to go to the head of any line, access to special hotlines if a flight is cancelled, and sometimes waived baggage fees, even when others might have paid more for an individual ticket.

Delta says it has about 1,000 customers who fly over 300,000 miles every year, About 20,000 out of 20 million Continental frequent fliers qualify for their uppermost service level.

Even Southwest, which does not offer business class, allows its most frequent fliers to board in the "A" group, offers companion passes, and other perks.

The paper reports that some airlines, United among them, have started offering the perks for sale, rather than reserving them for those who earn them by flying. Henry H. Harteveldt, an analyst at Forrester Research who follows travel trends, says it only makes sense given the airlines financial state in this economy. “Why not try to monetize it?” he said. “People will pay for this.”

FMI: www.delta.com, www.continental.com. www.southwest.com, www.united.com