I got three emails from airlines. Two of them were letting me know about how they were addressing the coronavirus outbreak with enhanced cleaning procedures on their planes and in their terminals. This was supposed to make me comfortable flying the airlines. I could see the script behind each communication, but they told the right things. I felt better about the one that came from the CEO vs the CMO, but I know neither person wrote the email.
The third airline, which happens to be my preferred airline, sent me an email encouraging me to pay for my loyalty status, which I did not earn last year. So following the first year in about 8 when I did not fly enough to earn my status, rather than let me know that it was safe to fly, they tried to get me pay for status in year when I will definitely be flying less.
I know that this was part of an ongoing sequence of emails to get me to spend money or miles to get my status back, but someone should have had the forethought to stop this email or replace it with a safety email. All of the information the other airlines sent me is on their website, so it could’ve come in an email. That email would have had a better chance of connecting with me. I was on the fence about paying for loyalty status, but had mostly decided not to. This untimely email clinched it. No priority boarding for me again until I earn it. And that’s unlikely to happen this year.
