Under the airline's original mileage program, human travelers who make 10 round-trip flights receive an 11th free.

Most important, however, are the thousands of frequent-flier miles that he accumulates each semester because his card is linked to an airline's mileage program.

He was also bailed out by Amex's mileage program, which started just before he took over and which increased spending per card.

People are told that if an airline goes into liquidation, its mileage program is likely to be absorbed by a competitor.

The bureau also found that at least four airlines could change their mileage programs without notice.

Here are highlights of the hotel mileage programs that have made major changes.

Nobody expects them to do away with the mileage programs altogether.

These groups offer bonus miles as sales inducements or rewards for every dollar spent, or they accept credit cards tied to mileage programs.

A large obstacle to eliminating corporate frequent flier miles is that the carriers themselves want to preserve the mileage programs.

Trans World and American Airlines are also expected to start a reciprocal mileage program soon.