I have been lucky enough to sit next to a several super high mileage customers at l-UAL in first class. Including l-UAL's highest mileage customer, ever. Twice. He had 6 million miles on UAL. At the time, that was more than me.

I am not a fan of UAL management at all, past or present. But these customers told me we took care of them exceptionally well, every day. They were extremely loyal, and not going anywhere.

In a desperate effort to squeeze more money out of other flyers, we held "perks" in front of our mid level customers so they would spend more money on our metal. So did everybody else. Now we carry billions of dollars in unrewarded rewards on our balance sheet as "liabilities", and are slowly chipping away at them. So is everybody else.

To our customers that truly spend a lot of money, I hope we continue to coddle them. For those that don't, I hope all of our employees treat them with dignity, respect, and some humor. BUT, they also need to sit down in their coach seat, shut up, and if they want a beer it is 5 bucks. Credit card only. If you use your Mileage Plus card you will earn 2 miles for the beer purchase.