Frequent-flyer rewards should be replaced with a frequent-flyer levy

Irish Times

28-04-2025

Are you a member of a frequent flyer programme? It's hard to believe that schemes that reward people for warming the planet still exist.
It's been more than 40 years since the first frequent-flyer programmes were introduced in 1980s America. The schemes were fairly straightforward – you'd take some flights and earn a free flight. These days, the programmes are among the most complicated loyalty schemes in the world. Alongside flying, now you can earn rewards for many different types of consumption including car rental, hotel stays and shopping.
The basic tenet has remained the same since the 1980s, however: fly more and get more free flights, or get a seat upgrade to a section of the cabin with fewer passengers.
Frequent-flyer programmes have undergone a bit of a rebrand since the 1980s, however. Even though they still reward those who fly frequently, phrases such as 'frequent flyer' and 'air miles' seem to have been scrubbed from airline marketing materials. It's all about 'loyalty' and 'points' now.
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It's probably because flying frequently and clocking up air miles – one of the most glamorous things you could do back in the 1980s – is no longer a good look.
Flying causes more of the pollution that's
heating up our climate
than any other form of transport, and it has contributed about 4 per cent to
global warming
to date, according to research from Our World in Data.
The data can be a bit tricky to get your head around. Flying is one of the most carbon-intensive activities – yet it contributes just 2.5 per cent of the world's carbon emissions. How does this add up? Well, most of the world's population don't fly, according to Our World in Data. Studies estimate that just 10 per cent of the world flies in most years.
For example, North Americans flew 50 times further than Africans in 2018, according to one study published in the journal, Global Environmental Change.
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Dublin Airport generates the same carbon emissions as 1.4 million cars every year
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So it's a relatively small number of relatively wealthy people who are doing the flying and creating most of the emissions. As incomes rise, this will change.
Frequent flyers are responsible for a disproportionately large share of flights and emissions, according to climate charity Possible.org. The charity argues that frequent-flyer programmes encourage and reward very high levels of consumption of highly polluting flights.
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Ireland risks fine of up to €26bn if EU-agreed climate targets missed
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It points to anecdotal evidence from frequent-flyer club members which shows how the programmes encourage them to maximise their points by taking unnecessary and even unwanted flights, such as making a 'tier point run'. This is the term used to describe a long and convoluted journey featuring multiple flights, taken only to collect points to reach or maintain levels of membership.
Frequent-flyer programmes also incentivise consumers to pay for the most carbon-intensive seating options in business or first class, says Possible – and to fly more than they otherwise would. It has called for an immediate end to frequent flyer programmes.
Tanning, smoking, driving without a seat belt – there are plenty of things we did in the past that we do far less of these days. When the penny dropped that these things weren't good for us, or those around us, they became less socially acceptable.
Last year was the world's hottest on record
, according to data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. It's well past time to replace frequent-flyer rewards with a frequent flyer levy.