The Extra Mile

When Comparing Deals, the Devil's in the Details

Q&A: How Can I Help My Granddaughter with My Miles?

June 23, 2003 - The headline for United's latest promotion is an attention-getter: "Fly 3 Roundtrips, Get a FREE Ticket."

Specifically, the airline is offering members of its Mileage Plus frequent flyer program one free ticket after every three roundtrips flown between June 4 and Sept. 30. The three qualifying trips can be anywhere United flies, domestic or international, in any class of service, although a few of the cheapest fares are excluded.

Up to two free tickets may be earned during the promotion period, and they can be used for roundtrip travel within the contiguous U.S. between Sept. 2, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2004.

Predictably, both American and Northwest countered with similar offers, including me-too names: "Fly 3, Get 1 Free" from American and "1-2-3 Free" from Northwest.

Notwithstanding the surface similarities, there are differences in the fine print which can significantly alter the practical value of these competing offers.

First, in the original United promotion, and as copied by American, economy-class roundtrips do not count toward earning a free ticket if they include a Saturday-night stayover. That's a simple way to restrict the offer to customers traveling on business, who are most likely to be flying during the workweek.

Northwest makes no such restriction: economy tickets (excluding those booked in H, M and Q booking classes) count. So the Northwest offer is viable for a much larger number of leisure flyers.

Each offer requires registration. In American's case, registering by Sept. 30 retroactively covers flights taken since June 5. But with Northwest, only flights taken after registering count toward earning a free ticket. It's a distinction that could make the difference between qualifying or not.

All three carriers limit the free ticket to travel within the contiguous United States. But United makes an exception: residents of Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands can use their free ticket for travel to the 48 contiguous states. For consumers living outside the mainland U.S., that makes the United offer much more compelling than the American version. Northwest allows free travel between the lower 48 and Canada.

With three of the Big Six airlines already onboard, it's likely that other carriers will match this offer. Consumers will do well to peruse the offers' fine print, which may hold the difference between a great deal and a deal-breaker.

Current News & Offers

While the following offers have a common theme -- bonus miles for international travel -- there's no danger of confusing them.

Through Dec. 31, AAdvantage members can earn as many as 35,000 bonus miles for American Airlines flights to Japan -- 5,000 miles for one roundtrip, 15,000 miles for two roundtrips, and 35,000 miles for three roundtrips in first, business or full-fare coach; and 2,000, 6,000 or 14,000 miles for one, two or three roundtrips in discount economy.

Through Sept. 30, SkyMiles members will earn bonus miles for roundtrip Delta-operated flights between New York and Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Madrid, Moscow, Nice, Paris, Rome, or Venice as follows: 15,000 bonus miles for J and D classes, 10,000 miles for Y, B, M, I, or 5,000 miles for H, Q, K, L classes.

And through Sept. 15, WorldPerks members who take one roundtrip on Northwest or KLM to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India or Asia will earn 10,000 bonus miles for World Business class or 5,000 for full coach fares, plus a 30% Discount Travel E-Cert redeemable on a future international flight.

All the offers require registration, and include restrictions.

Readers: Miles on their Minds

Question from Karla

I don't see myself traveling anytime soon so I'd like to use my accumulated frequent flyer miles to assist my granddaughter who is attending college on the East Coast. Can I do that, or am I limited to using the miles for myself?

Answer

There have been attempts through the years to limit award use to immediate family members or those on a defined short-list. However, the industry standard has evolved in the direction of inclusivity rather than exclusivity. Today, in all major U.S. programs, members may redeem their miles for an award ticket issued in the name of anyone they choose.

Award transferability should not be confused with mileage transfer. While you can indeed redeem your miles for an award ticket for your granddaughter, you may not as a general rule simply give her your miles.