keithstoeckeler:

i was flying back to minneapolis/st paul the other night and my plane didn’t take off on time. big surprise, right? we took off 30min late, only to taxi out and stop, and have the captain come on the radio and share that we had two maintenance issues and needed to go back to the gate to get attended to. we flew out an hour later than scheduled. countless people missed their connecting flights, one being the guy sitting next to me.

it got me thinking…

yes, plenty of things happen and flights are often delayed, but the ever slightest thing would make an angry customer not so angry. my idea: reward points — 50 points for every 30min the flight is delayed. yes, very few travelers have a member rewards account with an airline, so this would only help a portion of travelers, but it would increase enrollment with those travelers who haven’t already signed up — “what am i missing?”
it takes something outrageous like 80,000 points to get a $25 gift card to barnes & noble through the rewards redemption anyway, why not dish out some points for anything that doesn’t have the plane leaving on time? reward points aren’t something immediately tangible so airlines wouldn’t see an immediate hard cost, and who knows, maybe those points will never be cashed out by the consumer anyway.
when delayed flights equal travelers swearing off the given airline for good, the smallest gift would go a long way. do the airlines really have anything to lose?