Nov. 1983 — Marriott launches its first loyalty program, called Honored Guest Awards.

Nov. 1986 — The Continental TravelBank frequent flyer program becomes the first program to offer a direct relation with an affinity credit card by introducing a Gold MasterCard.

Nov. 8, 1986 — First consumer lawsuit involving a member of a frequent flyer program: Howard Landau vs. United Airlines. Dubbed “the man who flew too much” by The New York Times, Howard Landau sues United in the United States District Court of the District of New Jersey. United had confiscated Mr. Landau’s Mileage Plus accounts and those of his immediate family because (1) he had family members fly in his name and (2) sold mileage to a coupon broker. United settled with Landau. Terms of the settlement are not disclosed by mutual agreement of the parties; however, it is known that, subsequent to the settlement, Mr. Landau continued to sell mileage and had a significant amount of mileage to sell.

Nov. 1991 — Pan Am ceases operations and the WorldPass frequent flyer program is merged with the Delta Frequent Flyer program.

Nov. 13, 1991 — As negotiations between Northwest Airlines and Midway Airlines fall apart, Midway is unable to continue operations and discontinues its FlyersFirst program virtually overnight. The sudden collapse of the airline and its frequent flyer program leaves approximately 700,000 members holding millions of suddenly worthless miles, as no other program picks up the stranded members or miles.