Airlines love frequent flyer miles.

Why?

If they convince that the travelers win with frequent flyer miles, they win. Most travelers won’t keep track of them and you can always change the rules at whim to make miles worthless at some point in time.

So, the idea is to keep telling a story that seems super compelling about what someone can do with their airline miles.

Here are some stories in pictures about American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

#1: Where can your miles take you?

#2 You just can’t download this

#3: 250 cities. 40 countries.

If none of the above touched you, how about using a charity angle?

#4: Miles closer to a cure

Now, here is a tweet from Mark Hurst about the complexity of actually redeeming those miles

The picture mentioned in Mark’s tweet is below

Note to American Airlines: If you are going to tell a compelling story, make it a point to tell that story all the way. Not just in making the promise – but also in fulfilling it.

PS: A few months ago, more than 60,000 miles in my AAdvantage account disappeared for some crazy reason. I went through hoops to get them back and did not succeed. Asking around, I found that I am not alone.