Soukup says Northwest issues about 1.5 million reward tickets annually. And about a quarter of those

Those not-quite-so-free reward tickets | Minnesota Public Radio News Minnesota Public Radio Give Now Minnesota Public Radio MPR Services MPR News The Current Classical airline flight status information MPR More Streams Radio Heartland Local Current Wonderground airline flight status information Radio Choral Classical Sections MPR News coverage Arts culture Business Education Environment Health Politics Science Weather MPR News Blogs MPR News programs Morning Edition The Daily Circuit airline flight status information All Things Considered More programs MPR News resources Program schedule Station directory Hourly newscast airline flight status information Archive Members More ways to give Give a gift membership Employer matching gifts Leadership Circle Planned giving Donate a vehicle Fundraise for MPR Donate stock Member benefits Sustaining airline flight status information membership Contact us Become airline flight status information a member More MPR Services
Radio Heartland Local Current Wonderground Radio Choral Classical Minnesota Public Radio About MPR Contact info Stations Careers Staff directory Company information Press room Members Events Shop Give Now Search MPR Those not-quite-so-free reward tickets Business Martin Moylan
"Adding a fee to it, I think that's kind of ridiculous," he said. "You or your company, you're traveling for business or pleasure, trying to build these miles up to put them toward something. Why get charged for it, when it should be free?"
"We were very concerned about the consumer reaction," said Bob Soukup, Managing Director of Northwest Airline's WorldPerks frequent flier program. "But I think people really understand that the price of fuel is so high that the airline has to do something to compensate."
"We have to make sure the customers see value in the miles," he said. "So for that reason, we have to make sure that we've got sufficient inventory all the time out there. airline flight status information We would never dramatically reduce the amount of inventory that's available to the customers."
Soukup says Northwest issues about 1.5 million reward tickets annually. And about a quarter of those tickets go to people who part with extra miles to avoid the usual caps on the reward seats allocated to a flight.
0:00 Member Supported Join Now Sponsor Sponsor Sponsor More MPR News Listen Live Audio help iOS Streaming app iOS MPR News app Android Streaming app MPR News blogs Podcasts RSS feeds Program schedule Station directory About Minnesota Public Radio Contact Us Shop Become a Member Volunteer Fundraising Credentials airline flight status information Terms of use Your privacy rights Public Inspection Files