Airlines’ frequent flyer programs are not very friendly to loyal travelers

By every definition, I am a frequent flyer. Every Thursday afternoon, after I cast my last vote in the Senate, I head to the airport to fly home to Illinois, where I take meetings with constituents and attend state events through the weekend. Come Monday morning, I’m back on a plane to Washington.

I understand the practicality of airline rewards programs — whether it’s through miles, points or travel deals. I’m a participant myself. But I also understand airlines are taking advantage of their customers by offering grandiose rewards, only to change the terms and conditions without consumers’ knowledge.

Don’t just take it from me; take it from the thousands of frustrated consumers who’ve registered complaints about the airlines on the Better Business Bureau’s website.

One customer, after receiving a promotional email directly from the airline about the loyalty program they were already a member of, spent $10,000 on the accompanying credit card to activate the promotion and receive extra miles for their purchases. The customer did their due diligence, calling the airline to confirm the promotion had been activated and that their purchases fell within guidelines. Three billing cycles and several grueling hours on the phone with customer service later, the promised miles had yet to appear.

Now, if a consumer wants to purchase an airline ticket with points but doesn’t have enough, airlines force them to purchase more points, often more than necessary and sometimes, at three times the cost of the points at redemption. In one such instance just this year, a customer filed a complaint with the BBB detailing the saga of trying to add points to their mother’s account to help her afford an airline ticket. Because they were just short of enough pooled miles, they were forced to buy additional miles — in 2,000-mile increments for $70 plus tax. They swallowed the cost and purchased the miles, but 48 hours later, their purchase still hadn’t shown up in the mother’s account.

On top of these outrageous stories, airlines continue to tack on baseless fees to nearly every transaction when flyers try to transfer their points to a family member enrolled in the very same program.

When it comes to airline rewards programs, the skies are not very friendly to loyal travelers.

I’ve repeatedly called out the airline industry for their unfair and deceptive practices in their frequent flyer and loyalty programs. I’ve urged Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to work with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to review the way these programs are run and implement oversight on airlines’ policies. I’ve also gone to the Senate floor multiple times to talk about how airlines use their loyalty programs to pad their profits on the backs of consumers.

And now, in an effort to protect consumers and take legislative action, I’m introducing the Protect Your Points Act. My bill requires one thing: transparency.

The Protect Your Points Act would give new authorities to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the CFPB to prohibit airlines from taking any actions or including clauses within the terms of their frequent flyer programs that would allow them to make changes to these programs, or devalue previously accrued points, at any time without notice to consumers. Instead, airlines would be required to provide, at minimum, one year’s notice to consumers of any changes to the terms of service, or actions that would jeopardize the value of their hard-earned rewards.

My legislation would also make comparison shopping less of a headache. Better yet, consumers would be allowed to pay for airfare in any combination of points or dollars, a convenience currently unavailable.

My legislation would further institute greater flexibility into reward programs, allowing consumers to transfer their points, without a cap on the quantity or reduction in their value, to family members or other participants in the same program without any pesky junk fees. Finally, the Protect Your Points Act would prohibit airlines from putting an expiration date on the accrued points or miles that you earned.

I want to be clear — my bill would not eliminate your airline rewards programs or regulate the value of points or miles. Airlines will falsely try to argue this at the prospect of finally having to show their hand and fulfill all of their promises. My bill requires only that the airlines play fair. And if these programs are as valuable to consumers as the airlines claim they are, the airlines should have no trouble taking these simple steps to make them more transparent.

I believe you shouldn’t need a magnifying glass to read the fine print when you enroll in an airline loyalty program. Airline rewards programs are valuable to the American people, me included, which is why we need the Protect Your Points Act to ensure these programs are fair, transparent and predictable.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is a Democrat from Illinois.