The number of ways to earn and spend frequent flyer mileage points may have gone up, but so have the grievances of frequent flyers, who feel airlines aren't doing enough to pamper them for being loyal to a full-service carrier despite the lure of low-cost fares as per a report in TOI by Manju V.

"The three main add-ons offered by frequent flyer programmes are ticket upgrades, lounge access and free tickets," says Kapil Arora of global consultancy firm Ernst and Young. Of the three incentives, the only incentive exclusive to the frequent flyer programme these days is that of redeeming mileage points to buy a free ticket. The other two incentives can be had without a frequent flyer mile card. Many credit card companies offer lounge access and there are varied ways to get ticket upgrades - like from economy to business -- be it for government or private airlines. This seems to have created some problems.

"Also, a frequent flyer feels cheated when he has redeemed his points for an upgrade to business class only to see an economy class flyer take the adjacent seat as the flight was overbooked," says Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India and a frequent flyer based in Chennai. "It is a common occurrence on Colombo-Chennai, Colombo-Mumbai flights," he says, adding that in the last four to five years instances of overbooking and subsequent free upgrades have gone up greatly.

Frequent flyers have other grouses too. Like, if one has requested an upgrade against a voucher at the time of booking, some airlines do not guarantee it.

Earlier, in a particular private airline, on spending Rs 2 lakh (or 8,000 miles), one would get a free upgrade voucher to be used on any of the airline's routes. "Now, they have revised it to spending worth Rs 3.5 lakh or 14,000 miles," Reddy says, adding that the reason cited is the ever-increasing cost of aviation fuel. "If you have misplaced an upgrade voucher these days, they do not provide a duplicate one," he adds. Also, the members could earlier take wives or colleagues (booked on economy) to the airline's lounge. That privilege has been withdrawn.

So what is it that the loyal frequent flyers really want? For one, service, that extra edge which an airline can extend to them in exchange for their loyalty. For instance: a particular private airline has a time-consuming telephone check-in and does not make it easier for even the frequent flyers who occupy the highest rung in their programme. "A frequent flyer programme should be very friendly, practical and offer that extra bit of service that makes their patrons feel looked-after," says Reddy. "Often, after holding the line for 20 minutes, it gets disconnected and a simple thing like a tele-check-in becomes cumbersome."