Airline miles

As the economy becomes obsolete the only real currency and status symbol becomes airline miles As the economy becomes obsolete the only real currency and status symbol becomes airline miles -- collect a million with Virgin Atlantic and they will fly you into outer space, the ultimate escape. What began a few decades ago as a customer incentive has become a full on obsession for anyone who flies regularly. Get the right credit card, get a new mortgage on the house, rack up miles, rack up status points; any time a purchase seems silly, remember that you are adding valuable thousands of miles to that account and one day you can fly first class to Singapore. The nuts and bolts of the programs make sense -- a first class flight from JFK to Heathrow can cost about $10,000 with British Airways, or 150,000 BA miles. But the true beauty of the obsession -- and why the marketers who came up with the concept are genius -- is when fliers start making trips specifically to accrue miles and to keep their gold status. On flyertalk there is a discussion group devoted solely to those who make mileage runs, that is, spend money on flights for no other reason than to get miles.