00:00Frequent flyer miles were supposed to be your ticket to free travel, but then why are they
00:04starting to feel more out of reach than ever before? Two words, ghost bookings. Travelers
00:09flush with credit card points and air miles are booking multiple rewards flights for the same
00:14trip on different routes, different dates, because flying over parts of the Middle East has become
00:19unpredictable since the Iran war began. Flights get canceled, rerouted, or delayed at short notice,
00:25so people are locking in backup options just in case. But here's the kicker, the cancellation fees
00:31are low enough that it's actually worth doing, but then reward seats, the ones that you'd normally
00:35snap up with points, are disappearing faster than ever. And that's not because the planes are full,
00:41but because the same person might be holding two or three bookings at once. And the airlines, well,
00:46they've noticed. Etihad had already tightened rules last year for cancellations within 72 hours,
00:52but now airlines like United and Qantas are actively sweeping their systems, trying to detect
00:57and stop duplicate bookings. But that's only half the story, because at the same time, airlines and
01:03credit card companies are quietly devaluing miles, cutting conversion rates, and making rewards harder
01:09to reach. So in essence, you've got one few receipts available, and at the same time, more miles needed
01:15to book them, which means your points are doing less just when you need them the most. Frequent flyer
01:20programs are under pressure from both travelers gaming the system and the airlines rewriting the
01:25rules. Now travelers know the game is getting harder, but if holding a few extra bookings is what it
01:30takes to actually get to where they're going, they're willing to take that chance.
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