The importance of offering frequent flier benefits is heightened by the fact that roughly 5 to 6 percent of fliers program account for about 40 percent of all trips taken annually. The use of frequent flier programs by all of the major carriers is testimony to their importance in building customer loyalty, especially from business travelers. However, gaining and maintaining passenger loyalty is more difficult than ever before. Passenger are more interested in low airfares than they are in frequent flier miles.