U P F R O N T
The Year Ahead: Interesting
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We're not yet halfway through January and already it's a pretty safe bet that 2001 will be an historic one for the airline industry. Just as 1978 is remembered as the Year of Deregulation, so will 2001 be remembered as the Year of Consolidation.
Make no mistake--what happens over the next 12 months, particularly in the area of mergers and acquisitions, will affect our day-to-day travel experience for years to come. Price, customer service, scheduling, safety... every aspect of air travel is likely to change in ways more revolutionary than evolutionary.
All of which is to suggest that this year you should pay more attention than ever to the "Industry News Bites" section of The Crier.
O N S I T E
FrequentFlier Forum Topics
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As always, there's plenty of activity on the Forum...
Ronald has provided a link for those wishing to earn a 1,000-mile sign-up bonus from Grupo Taca. Scott wants to earn Delta miles for credit card charges. Elana has some thoughts about the airlines' pre-boarding procedures. Duke shares his experience switching elite status between carriers. And there are a couple of threads devoted to the proposed United-US Air and American-TWA mergers.
Do you have questions? Do you have answers? Post them to the Forum!
>> More - The FrequentFlier Forum
M I L E S
TWA Bows Out; Questions Arise
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This week's big news, in S-O-O-O-O-O-O many ways, is American's plan to acquire TWA. More than Eastern's, and every bit as much as Pan Am's, TWA's story is a rich one, associated with such larger-than-life figures as Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes and Carl Ichan. So its passing merits a more substantial obit than what we can provide here.
Sticking to our knitting and focusing on the frequent flyer program aspects of the situation, the critical issues for members of TWA's Aviators program are as follows:
1. The Fate of Aviators Miles
We would expect that American will allow Aviators members to open AAdvantage accounts (if they don't already have one) and either a) manually transfer their Aviators miles into their AAdvantage accounts, or b) have them transferred automatically.
While American has yet to finalize these policies and procedures, both AA representatives I spoke with believed, but could not officially confirm, that "American would do the right thing."
2. The Conversion Rate
The "right thing" would be to convert TWA miles to AA miles on a 1:1 basis. That seems obvious from a marketing standpoint. But AA is in no way legally obligated to assume the liability represented by Aviators members' miles, and could decide not to accept them at all (the "wrong thing"), or to accept them at less than face value.
3. Elite Status
If you're currently an Aviators elite member, will you automatically become an AAdvantage elite when TWA is merged into AA?
4. Schedule for Aviators Shutdown
While probably less important than the above, there is a natural consumer expectation that if a program is terminated, for whatever reason, members will be afforded a reasonable period of time to redeem their earned miles for awards on the host airline (TWA in this case) or with any of the program partners. So, for example, if you had regularly flown TWA in order to earn enough miles to qualify for a free ticket to Bombay on Air India, you would hope that loyalty would be honored even after the program's demise.
Will it be?
Naturally, I have posed these questions to AA. And, understandably, they aren't yet ready to provide answers. Given the fact that these issues are of the most importance to TWA's best customers, it's reasonable to expect them to be fast-tracked and resolved within the next month or 2.
Stay tuned...
United Extends "Grocery Miles"
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Safeway's Grocery Miles program has been extended through 2001.
With Grocery Miles, you can earn 125 Mileage Plus bonus miles for every $250 you spend at Safeway, Vons, Dominick's, Pavilions or Pak 'n Save Foods stores. If you're already enrolled in the Grocery Miles program, there is no need to re-enroll.
To participate, present your Safeway Club Card, Fresh Values Card, Vons Club Card or Pavilions ValuePlus Card. If you're not currently a Grocery Miles member, you can enroll by visiting the customer service counter at any participating store.
Home Depot Charges Earn Double Miles
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Another opportunity for Mileage Plus members: Use your United Mileage Plus Visa card to charge purchases at Home Depot through January 31, 2001, to earn 2 miles for every dollar charged.
To qualify for the bonus, you must register by calling 1-800-447-6772 and entering promotion code 696.
AA Bonus for West Coast Flights
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Until February 28, AAdvantage members can earn 1,000 bonus miles for the following West Coast roundtrip flights--
- Between Los Angeles, CA and Colorado Springs, CO; Oakland, CA; San Jose, CA
- Between San Jose, CA and Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Orange County, CA; Portland, OR; Phoenix, AZ; Reno, NV; San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA
- Between Seattle, WA and San Jose, CA; Orange County, CA
To receive the bonus, register before your trip at http://www.aa.com/offers or by calling 1-800-882-8880. Use promotion code WSCIK.
Earn Double Points and Miles for Plano Doubletree Stays
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Earn double HHonors points and airline miles when you stay at the Doubletree Hotel Plano, TX Legacy Town Center between February 15 and May 15, 2001.
Stay at the special rate of $179 per room, per night and earn double HHonors Base points and double miles for your Double Dip stays with American, Delta, Southwest and United. Request Plan Code DPM at time of reservation to receive the bonus.
JAL Mileage Bank Bonus
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Members of Japan Airlines' Mileage Bank can earn 500 bonus miles by registering their e-mail address on JAL's website by February 15. All those who register will also be entered to win a JAL Executive Class roundtrip ticket to Japan.
> More: JAL
S T E A L S & D E A L S
Deal Alert from SmarterLiving.com
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This week's hot deals from SmarterLiving.com...
Sale on Travel from the Eastern U.S. to Florida and the West Coast
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US Airways has released a sale covering travel between cities in the Eastern U.S. and destinations in Florida or the West Coast. Travel is valid until February 9 for Florida and March 31 for the West. Purchase by Friday, January 12.
For more details, go here.
Savings on Winter Travel to Europe
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American Airlines, Air France, and Lufthansa have released sales on European travel through the end of March. Lufthansa has also paired up with United on an additional European travel sale with similar travel dates through March.
For more details, go here.
I N D U S T R Y N E W S B I T E S
States Just Say "No" to Orbitz
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State attorneys general from New York, California and Iowa issued a strong statement recommending that the Departments of Justice and Transportation come down against Orbitz, the airline-backed online ticket seller scheduled to launch later this year. The document was endorsed by 17 other states which shared the petitioners' concerns.
The issue, as it is with the proposed United-US Airways merger, is competition. Or the lack thereof. Here's how Iowa's AG Tom Miller describes the states' concern: "If the five largest competitors control the distribution system, it raises not only questions about possible collusion, but more significantly, the prospect of 'comfortable' competition where airlines do not really feel the need to compete aggressively, and of exclusion, in which other reservations channels and smaller airlines are kept out, denying consumers the benefit of that competition."
Continental Wins Battle Against Baggage Templates
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If you're a long-time reader, you will remember our coverage of United's installation of baggage "sizers" on X-ray machines at security checkpoints at various domestic airports. The goal: prohibit passengers from carrying oversized bags onto the aircraft.
It's a thorny issue, with emotions running high on both sides. But given the combination of full flights and limited overhead storage space, we came down (and still do) on United's side.
Continental felt otherwise and took United to court, arguing that in cases where the sizers affected both Continental and United customers, the United-imposed restriction amounted to anti-competitive behavior. A federal judge in Virginia agreed with Continental, at least insofar as passengers at Washington Dulles airport are concerned. (United has sizers in place at other airports, including Chicago, San Francisco and Denver, but they don't share security checkpoints with Continental at those airports.)
Northwest Settles "Hostage" Suit
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Think back 2 years, to January 1999...
Detroit Airport, socked in by snow. On the tarmac, dozens of Northwest aircraft. The doors have closed and the planes pushed back from the jetways. And there they sat. In 1 case, for 11 hours. Within spitting distance of the terminal. Without adequate meal provisions. With overflowing toilets.
To many travelers and industry-watchers, the incident perfectly epitomized the state of the industry: airline passengers being held hostage by inept, uncaring and money-grubbing carriers. The perception remains.
Legally speaking, closure was achieved this week with NW's agreement to settle the ensuing class-action suit by paying out $7.1 million to more than 7,000 affected passengers.
Free Internet Access at LAX
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Passengers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) can now access the Internet for free using Internet kiosks located in the passenger terminals.
Twelve "NetFree 2000" kiosks are in place at passenger boarding gates -- 8 near Gate 32 in Terminal 3 and 4 on the Mezzanine Level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). Four more kiosks will be installed at TBIT.
Free, you ask? Yes, in the sense that network TV is free... the only price is ad clutter. Users click on any of the program's advertising sponsors to earn 10 minutes of free Internet access. After visiting the sponsor's Web site for 30 seconds, users are free to surf the Internet. At any time, users can click the "More Free Time" icon to again visit a sponsor's site and gain additional free minutes.
S I T E 2 S E E
Airline Deregulation, 20 Years Later
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When we're not talking about miles, we're talking about the state of the travel industry generally. And you can't have that discussion without referring, at least implicitly, to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.
In running a keyword search for 'airline deregulation' on Yahoo!, I came across the Heritage Foundation's assessment of deregulation, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. While I'm at the opposite end of the political continuum from Heritage, they offer a perspective which is at least internally consistent. And under incoming President Bush, we're far more likely to see a Heritage-style approach to managing commercial aviation.
Interesting reading...
> More: 20th Anniversary of Airline Deregulation
Until next week...
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