She passes attendants who smile only at the elite shoppers, offering them refreshments and guiding them toward the best deals.
.. Most companies couldn’t get away with triaging their customers this way. But some already do: airlines.
.. not like typical rewards systems, which simply encourage loyalty with discounts. Instead, they create elaborate hierarchies, discriminating between platinum flyers and coach passengers in nearly every step of the air-travel experience, from booking to baggage claim... Airlines can game out just how much each customer is worth, and treat them accordingly.. there’s little budget passengers can do to avoid an airline they don’t like. The big U.S. carriers have near-monopolies over air travel from many (though not all) major American airports.. That makes boycotting a major airline nearly impossible