Hiroshima Peace Park by Sherri
Climbing on to the soapbox again.
I now know why a majority of people do not play the frequent flyer game, collecting points and flying for free.
They tried it once and failed. It is that simple. They tried to collect on a promotion or award ticket, did something wrong and didn’t get what they wanted, and quit.
Imagine having just earned your first 25,000 Delta miles after years of collecting and then trying to redeem a reward with Delta? 13% success rate on the first call? They give up.
And as for promos? Imagine if you had to perform 3 or 4 tasks, keep a copy of the activities, with complete documentation and be willing to send an email or two to collect your bounty. The majority of the public can’t or won’t do it.
In the last week, my buddy Win and I have been processing registrations for the Chicago Seminar DO. In our registrations instructions we asked people to supply the following:
name, address, phone, Flyertalk handle (or create a 6-8 letter handle) and a list of seminars they would like to attend.
The instructions were clear, printed so people could print them before completing the task.
33% of the registrations were incomplete. 33% We don’t know what seminars they want, or how to refer to them online (handle)33%
Your friends and neighbors, that you want to help earn free travel, don’t get it because they can’t follow directions. They tried it once. It did not work, and they gave up. It is crystal clear to me now.
As we processed the registrations it became very clear who the “old timers” were. These are the guys and gals that can follow directions and reap the benefits of doing things as the promotion tells them to. We did not need to send follow up emails. It was done and on to the next “Old Timer” The old timers are conditioned through past life experience to follow directions. They did it right, they got rewarded. Plain and simple as that.
We’ll get all these people registered by providing about 6 pieces of information (the door prizes should be cool for the registrants), but the next time I’m tempted to try and get someone involved in our great hobby, I’ll probably bite my tongue.
Please, don’t think I am a perfectionist and never make a mistake. You have all seen my typing and proof reading skills in action. We know that is not the case. But when it comes to collecting on a promotion that can save me big bucks or send me somewhere cool for free, I am an old timer.
When you are trying to complete a promotion, application or something that offers you a reward for success, do you take the time to do it correctly and improve your chances of success? Most of your friends and neighbors don’t.
Be an Old Timer
Climbing down off soapbox with a better understanding of why “They Don’t Get It”
It just leaves more opportunities for those of us that do 
