Paradise will always be there, but your free ride may not be. If you want to go to places like Hawaii or Europe in high season, you'll have a devil of a time doing it on a frequent-flier award. There are a lot more people holding miles than there are airline seats to accommodate them. Industrywide, airlines allot 7.3 percent of capacity to those flying on free frequent-flier tickets, though some airlines do offer more. These programs are growing, growing, growing.
Demand is at an all-time high.
One reason frequent-flier programs are soaring in popularity is because they've branched out from their original purpose, which was to reward frequent passengers. You can, in fact, acquire enough miles to obtain a free trip without ever having stepped into an airplane. Especially on flights to popular destinations, seats allocated for frequent-flier tickets fill up fast. Sometimes, too, the only award route available is terribly convoluted. She called every morning for months, but couldn't get a direct flight.