The Nazis issued “ancestral heritage” passports to allow people to document their heritage, Aryan or otherwise.
In the modern era, we provide documents to the super rich, magic passports that allow them to fly anywhere they want, any time, for free.
Frequent Flyer Miles
The rest of us pay for this privilege “earned” by the super-rich. We pay for it via exorbitant interest rates on our credit cards. We pay for it with annual fees. And we pay for it with the unseen 3-5% merchants tack onto the price of everything we purchase with plastic.
So, while we the unsuspecting consumers are sucked in by “earning frequent flyer miles” for that dream vacation in the Caribbean – which we finally win five years later after paying three times that much in interest charges and annual fees – the rich get Caribbean vacations virtually on demand.
Robbing the Poor to Fly the Rich
This, of course, is a tremendous burden on the airlines, flying all those super-wealthy socialites for free wherever and whenever they want. So the airlines have to come up with new fees for:
- Courtesy pillows
- Carry-on baggage that’s too big or too heavy
- Overweight travelers
- Dogs, cats, babies and grannies
- Movies, music, internet or cell phone access
Naturally, all of these items are free to the rich – in their first class seats, with their three-course meals (while we subsist on peanuts and ice water) and their pink champagne.
Capitalism Triumphs Again
Even with all these extra fees on regular travelers, the cost of purveying the rich on demand is just too taxing on the major airlines. They go broke and have to merge with other bankrupt airlines to stay in business.
Guess what? The rich make money off that, too. Fewer airlines means less competition equals stronger “pricing power” – then higher ticket prices for us, more profits for them and a dividend bonus in their stock portfolios.
Conclusion
Get used to it, sucker. You have to use a credit card to build up and maintain a strong rating.