This approach implies that when a traveler buys a ticket, he/she in effect is buying that trip and a “piece” of some future “free” trip, the revenue for which has not yet been earned. It’s not clear to me why an approach analogous to warranty expense accounting (crediting the full amount of revenue, $400, then also debiting Award Program Expense and crediting Future Award Cost for $20) wouldn’t make more sense: the “bottom line” impact would be the same as the above, however