# The Airline Miles Analogy / Roadmap
In the 1990s, consumers bought airline tickets through a travel agent, which typically took [10% of the ticket price](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]. At that time, when air miles were introduced, if you wanted to claim them you had to physically send your used boarding pass to the airline using postal mail. At that time, it was mostly high volume business travelers that took the time to collect miles.
For many high-value consumers, the first commercial relationship they had with an airline was with their air miles program.
In the 2000s, consumers mostly bought airline tickets through online consolidators, like Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, etc, [who took a modest mark-up of the ticket price](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]. That facilitated claiming air miles online, and most frequent fliers started collecting and redeeming miles.
Starting around 2015, airlines had a critical mass of consumers that were already customers through the miles programs, and they began marketing directly to consumers (particularly for domestic airfare), who began buying airline tickets directly from the airline, sometimes paying a 5% referral fee to Google (paid by the airline). These days, Air miles are nearly automatic with your ticket purchase, and now even infrequent fliers collect (and sometimes redeem) miles.
Now, air miles are an enormous part of an airline’s business, sometimes more important than the planes:
**Airlines Are Just Banks Now**
[They make more money from mileage programs than from flying planes—and it shows.](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty.
Our goal is to do the same for the luxury wine industry, but without the aviation industry's missteps. **$VIN is initially used as loyalty points to connect winemakers with consumers**, eventually providing a path for direct sales.
The analogy doesn’t stop there:
* **Digital Corks are the equivalent of airline tickets** - purchased and burned after use.
* **Tasting Tokens are boarding passes** - proof that the flight was taken, and earning status: lounge access, automatic upgrades, etc.
* **$VIN are like miles** - awarded after the flight is taken and redeemable for flights, upgrades, and other services.
* Airline seats, like bottles of wine, are a finite/limited resource. Transparency and liquidity in the marketplace should create a better, more rational pricing mechanism.
* Winery experiences (tastings, dinners, etc), like airport lounges, are exclusive and allocated for just the best customers.
* Status with the brand (for both airlines and winemakers) is a flex for high-end consumers.
* Global wine industry = $450B, global airline industry = $540B.
[^1]: *"The retail travel industry was riding high on the boom times – and 10% airline commissions – that fuelled the sector’s prosperity in the 1970s and 1980s."*
[^2]: *"A decade ago, Picasso Travel enjoyed $30 to $50 markups per ticket. Now, its average markup on a roundtrip fare doesn't exceed $10."*
[^3]: *"...Wall Street lenders valued the major airlines’ mileage programs more highly than the airlines themselves."*
