The amount of the revenue deferral (or ex-post establishment of a liability for previously earned free tickets) is certainly a fuzzy issue, especially as the airlines begin to place restrictions on when free tickets can be used. An airline might argue that, with restrictions, the free tickets are just filing otherwise empty seats, so the cost to the airline is minimal. Also some awards go unused. According to The Wall Street Journal, some airlines are “quietly hoping” the IRS will ease their problem by swiftly moving to tax-free tickets as income, which would drastically cut the number of people redeeming their awards.