Frequent Crying

It was an April Fool's Day surprise that still makes David Zrike fly into a rage. Like more than 15 million other Americans, Zrike, a 27-year-old partner in a New York City importing business, belongs to a frequent-flyer program that gives bonus trips to loyal airline passengers who accumulate sufficient travel miles. For two years Zrike faithfully flew on Trans World Airlines to reach the 60,000-mile mark needed for two free coach tickets to any TWA destination in the world. Then, on April 1, the airline revised its program. Now 60,000 bonus miles will earn two tickets to Europe only, and bonus flyers have to travel during the industry's traditionally slow October-to-April season. Fumes Zrike: "TWA won't live up to its end of the deal."

Across the nation, other frequent travelers are just as irate over sudden changes in bonus programs announced by TWA and other major carriers. Some of the new rules actually favor customers by lowering mileage requirements for free domestic flights. But United, for example, has boosted from 50,000 to 60,000 the number of miles needed to earn a pair of coach tickets to Hawaii. American will raise its requirement for the same flight from 50,000 to 75,000 miles on May 1.

For many passengers, changing the rules in mid-game amounts to a breach of contract. A number are fighting back. Attorneys general in New York and California are investigating complaints from consumers who contend that the airlines reneged on bonus-flight commitments. A class action filed in San Diego on behalf of about 2 million United, American and TWA passengers asks that the carriers roll back their requirements. Lawyers in Chicago have brought a similar suit against United.

For their part, airlines appear to have misjudged the cost of one of the industry's runaway successes. Last year U.S. airlines issued more than $1 billion worth of bonus awards, estimates Business Flyer, an industry newsletter. This year, but for the rule changes, the amount would have exceeded $2 billion. United had been shuttling so many free or upgraded passengers to Hawaii that "we didn't have enough seats to sell our paying customers," complained Suzanne Weiss, manager of the airline's Mileage Plus program. But the bonuses have also brought the airlines badly needed brand loyalty, and now the latest brouhaha is causing some of the chagrined carriers to reconsider their new restrictions. Until that happens, expect more fuming from unhappy customers.