As has already been pointed out by several commenters, the ones who lose out here are the short haul business travelers.
I make 60+ trips a year back forth between Oakland and LA and I've been rewarded handsomely by Southwest for my loyalty. That's all about to change. The new system will halve my rewards. (On top of that, the number of daily flights has been cut dramatically. Perhaps that's what's allowed SW to keep fares high for the last couple months.)
All in all, the new business model no longer caters to customers like me. (And based on the number of familiar faces I see on my flights, I'm far from alone.)
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