Some people mistakenly think a light year is a unit of time. It isn't, of course, it measures distance: that which light travels in a year.
Most people, at least those untouched by the metric system, think of a mile as a unit of distance. They're right. But a mile is also a unit of currency. A commodity with fluctuating buy and sell prices, and increasingly open trade.
I'm currently in seat 64K on a British Airways Boeing 747. Those clued up know that this is the most spacious, the most comfortable, and the most private seat in Business Class. The smoked salmon, champagne, and warm bread before me complement it nicely. All this is mine for 25,000 miles there and back again. Yet, on this trip I will earn 25,700 miles. This is not counting the bonus 5000 miles that rolled in this morning thanks to using a particular credit card at a certain supermarket in December for regular groceries.
Airlines think miles are about Loyalty. They're right. They think they have no cash value and that they control the programmes. They're wrong. Like stock, commodities have value that flows with information and demand. Information and demand in this enlightened age are squarely in the hands of the individual. That creative individual sorely mistakenly called the consumer.
Miles haven't taken me as far as light this year, but it is only January...
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Location:30,000 ft
