The resident of Minnetonka, Minn., has racked up more than 1 million miles on Northwest Airlines since 1985, mostly by winging it for work. But like many other members of frequent-flier programs, he laments that it's too hard to redeem his miles for tickets.

"There are too many restrictions," he said. "You can ask for something today and not get it, but the next day you might. Two, three times, my wife and I could get to Europe using WorldPerks miles. But there was no way to get back."

Still, Kirchhof has managed to use more than 800,000 of the miles he's earned. And his free flights have included at least three roundtrips to Europe with his wife, Mary.

But Maureen Stanton of Brainerd, Minn., who flies three to six times a year, hasn't been as fortunate.

"I think the frequent-flier program is garbage," she said. "It seemed just when I reached my eligibility to receive my 'free' flight somewhere, they upped the ante."

Old-line carriers such as Northwest are feeling pressure to improve their programs.

Ease of redemption is a huge issue, as is maintaining the attractiveness of frequent-flier programs in the face of competition from low-fare rivals that offer not just cheap tickets but often their own reward programs.

Lessened effectiveness

Frequent-flier programs have been the airlines' most effective marketing tool, said Jim Craun, senior vice president of Eclat Consulting.

"But they seem less effective now," he said. "Low-fare carriers have been taking business traffic away from the major carriers. Corporate travel departments are insisting on low fares."

Despite such traveler laments, reward tickets issued to frequent fliers actually shot up at most of the big carriers last year.

"People believed it would be harder to get tickets because of the airlines' cutbacks," said Randy Petersen, publisher of InsideFlyer magazine and an expert on frequent flier programs. "But there's no statistical proof it got harder. The reality is that reward redemptions jumped by 16 percent last year."

At Northwest, which is based in Eagan, Minn., reward ticket redemptions increased about 15 percent from 2000 to 2002.

US Airways said it's flying more to Florida, the Caribbean and other places leisure travelers want to go, increasing the supply of reward tickets.

"And with our alliance with United, we have added additional opportunities for our frequent fliers to redeem miles," said Stephen Usery, vice president of marketing and revenue management.

For its part, Northwest notes that its WorldPerks members can earn and burn miles on more than 40 airlines, including Continental and now Delta.

Airlines have to address travelers' growing frustration with redeeming frequent-flier miles at the standard rates, said Terry Trippler, travel expert at CheapSeats.com.

"Northwest says one in 12 passengers flies in a frequent-flier seat," Trippler said. "But to where? Grand Forks or Honolulu? The complaints are coming from people who want to fly to Honolulu, Cancun and the other glamorous spots the airlines put on their brochures."

Northwest and its peers caution that they have "limited" reward seats during peak travel periods and to the most popular destinations.

But they don't disclose how few seats that might be. Indeed, they're not keen on taking a seat they could sell and giving it to someone parting with, say, 25,000 frequent-flier miles. They want to put that person in a seat that would otherwise go unoccupied.

Northwest and other traditional hub-and-spoke carriers are quick to note that travelers can get around limits on free seats if they invoke "rule-busters." But that requires them to fork over twice as many miles as usual to secure a seat. That means 50,000 miles for a round-trip domestic ticket.

Simple at Southwest

The key issue for the old-line carriers is redemptions, said Deb Benton, director of loyalty marketing at Southwest Airlines. They have to make them simpler and easier, she contends.

With Southwest's rewards program, travelers can earn a free ticket for every eight roundtrips. Currently, if they book online, they can get a ticket after just four roundtrips.

On its Web site, Southwest boasts, "We give you a free ticket you can actually use!"

Benton said, "That ticket has no seat restrictions on it. As long as the flight is not sold out or part of our very limited blackout dates, you will get on the plane. Everyone else has restrictions. We have none."

But Southwest does not serve as many destinations as the traditional carriers do. And it flies only within the United States, not internationally.

Making customers feel more appreciated is the top issue for frequent-flier programs, Northwest's Shultis said.

"They spend a lot of time up in the air and they want adequate recognition for the kind of customers they are," she said. "That recognition could mean they get greeted a little bit differently, get through security a little bit faster, get seat upgrades, all those side benefits that make or break a business trip. Recognition is the No. 1 issue."

US Airways' Usery said both airlines and travelers are looking for ways to add some sizzle to frequent flier programs.