Issue #76  --  January 13, 2000

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Miles No, Discounts Yes
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Not much new happening in the "Miles" section this week. In fact, this is the first time in 76 issues of The Crier that there hasn't been anything newsworthy mileage-wise to report.

However, it's a great time for travel discounts if you're looking to take a leisure trip. We've included a couple of representative fare sales in the "Steals and Deals" section. Discounting is so pervasive during this first quarter of the year that you can expect to find a good deal on most any airline you choose.

Coming back full circle to miles, it's worth remembering that if you earn the same number of miles for more and less expensive flights (or stays, or purchases, or whatever), you're obviously getting a better mile-for-dollar rate when you buy the less expensive item than the more expensive one.

<< M I L E S >>

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Nothing, nada, rien, nyet. (If this leaves you anxiety-ridden or depressed, repeat after me: I am a mileage junkie. And consider a 10-step program.)

<< S T E A L S & D E A L S >>

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Southwest Discounts Florida
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Southwest is offering flights to Florida for $79 or less each way, based on roundtrip purchase.

This special, Internet-only fare will be available for travel between any published Southwest destination and Florida. Southwest serves the Florida cities of Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

For example, Customers traveling between Chicago and Ft. Lauderdale, or Los Angeles and Tampa, Phoenix and Orlando, or Seattle and Orlando can now do so at $79 each way.

Fares are available through Feb. 2, 2000, for travel from Jan. 14 through Feb. 10, 2000. Tickets must be purchased at least 3 days before departure with at least one overnight stay. A roundtrip purchase is required and seats will be limited.

While tickets are nonrefundable, they may, if unused, be applied toward the purchase of future travel on Southwest Airlines. Fares are subject to change until ticketed, and do not include a segment fee of $2.50 each way and airport taxes of up to $12 roundtrip.

>> More <<
Southwest

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BA Discounts London
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British Airways is offering discounted airfares and hotel rates for travel between 21 U.S. cities and London.

Sample fares*--

               Jan-Feb        Mar

               Midweek    Midweek

Atlanta           $149       $174
Baltimore          134        159
Boston              99        124
Charlotte          154        179
Chicago            144        169
Dallas/Ft. Worth   169        194
Denver             179        204
Detroit            144        169
Houston1            69        194
Los Angeles        174        199
Miami              159        184
Newark              99        124
New York JFK        99        124
Orlando            164        189
Philadelphia       104        129
Phoenix            179        204
San Diego          179        204
San Francisco      179        204
Seattle            179        204
Tampa              164        189
Washington DC      134        159

*Fares are one-way based on round-trip purchase.

In conjunction with these fares, BA is also offering special rates on budget hotels. For example: the Tavistock for $25 a night, Royal National for $25, and the President for $35 (per person, per night, based on double occupancy).

>> Terms
Fare basis NLXSALE1/NJXSALE1 are midweek, non-refundable economy class from USA 1/13/00--3/31/00 on British Airways only, require round-trip purchase, are subject to availability and do not include gov't. fees/taxes of approx. $90. Weekend surcharges of $25 each way apply for departures Thurs.--Sat. and returns Fri.--Sun. Min stay: Sat. night. Max. stay: 30 days with all travel completed by 4/29/00. Valid for new bookings only, made 1/5/00--1/26/00 and require 7-day advance reservations. Purchase within 48 hours of booking but no later than 1/26/00. Hotel specials are valid for new bookings at select London hotels only. Hotel prices are per person and require double occupancy and are valid for occupancy until 3/19/00. Hotels must be purchased in conjunction with British Airways transatlantic flights.

>> More <<
BA

<< T R A V E L O N L I N E >>

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Priceline.com Has $3 Million Day
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Priceline.com had a record $3 million revenue day this week.

In addition to the 1-day record, its airline service set a 7-day sales record, selling 80,000 airline tickets, while its hotel service also set a 7-day record, selling over 20,000 room nights.

The company credits its new ad campaign for the strong sales. The new revenue and business unit sales records come one week after the launch of a new national TV advertising campaign created by Hill Holiday for priceline.com featuring William Shatner singing a variety of pop hits from the '60s and '70s. The ads have generated the most consumer response ever to a priceline.com advertising campaign, with many consumers even asking to purchase video copies of the ads.

Last week, priceline.com said that it expected to report total revenues for 1999, its first full year of operations, of almost half a billion dollars. For the fourth quarter 1999, the company said it expects to report revenues of approximately $168 million and gross profit of approximately $22.7 million, excluding $381,000 in non-cash supplier warrant charges. The company said that it expected to report a 4th quarter gross margin of approximately 13.5%, the highest in priceline.com's history.

>> More <<
Priceline.com

<< I N D U S T R Y U P D A T E >>

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American, China Southern Expand Inflight Media
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Is inflight entertainment the battleground on which the next marketing wars will be fought?

Just this week, we've seen 2 airlines touting enhancements to their inflight entertainment offerings. And you can't help but wonder if this isn't a trend toward increased competition in passenger service.

Starting this month, American is adding two new magazine titles to its inflight collection: Fast Company, a business magazine focusing on trends, leading-edge entrepreneurs and fast-paced enterprises, and Mirabella, which covers fashion and beauty.

Later in the first quarter, American will add several Time, Inc. publications. People, the nation's number one magazine, will be offered in both English and Spanish, making American the only major airline to carry People. During the quarter, the airline also will add Sports Illustrated and InStyle.

In all, American will increase to 44 the number of magazine titles it offers on its domestic and international flights.

China Southern Airlines, the largest airline in The People's Republic of China, announced this week its January and February 2000 line-up of Hollywood "blockbuster" inflight movies, featuring "The Thomas Crown Affair," starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.

In addition, China Southern is presenting "The Love Letter," "Notting Hill," and "Runaway Bride." China Southern claims to be the only airline in China to
feature major Hollywood films as part of its inflight service.

China Southern is also promoting its new bilingual inflight magazine, Southern Comfort. (For those who worry about such things, China Southern assures us that "all programming aboard China Southern Airlines has obtained the permission from the State Copyright Bureau, passed the censorship of the PRC Ministry of Culture and obtained all broadcast rights.")

This attention to inflight amenities is a small thing, to be sure. But large improvements can be the result of many small gains.

>> More <<
o American
o China Southern

<< R E A D E R R A N T S & R A V E S >>

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Suggestions, Etc.
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If you haven't already, as you prepare the next newsletter, you may want to advise the readers of a quick 500 points under the HHonors program. For those with accounts and their PIN, just go to www.hhonors.com/email to provide some choices for notifications. The offer expires on January 30, 2000. It's interesting that I (a Diamond HHonors) didn't get the notice, but my spouse (a Silver) did. It works anyway.

Separately, thanks for your reaction on the Hampton Inn posting. Between that and the Buick Regal/Delta problem, people have just got to lighten up; this is not a perfect world. Frequent user programs are privileges not rights; they are provided at the discretion of the supplier. The suppliers have the prerogative to change their offerings and eliminate them at their own discretion (albeit the resolution of the class action suit against Delta when they did change from Frequent Flier Miles to SkyMiles will cost them a pretty mile) and the consumer can change allegiances.

I look forward to your weekly releases; keep up the good work. Some thoughts follow:

The key to the postings (and I think the uniqueness of your product) is to make sure that the hotel chain or the airline or the car rental agency marketing/consumer affairs group is aware of the issue. Are they watching
and reading??????????

If you have the time and energy, I would encourage you to consider the Conde Nast Traveler Ombudsman approach. Since you monitor all of the traffic, where you judge that someone is particularly aggrieved, pass the issue on to the respective party for their response and tell them that you'll publish it for them (alternative dispute resolution plus publicity). (For example, in the Delta/Buick Regal case, the SkyMiles were sold as currency to Buick, who was liable for delivery to the consumer; Delta did not need to be sympathetic, however, Delta was charged as guilty by association and should have assured that any third party has a performance guarantee (performance measure and penalties for non-performance) to ensure compliance. The real question now is: has Delta taken any steps to preclude a fiasco again?

Probably not. Should they? Yes! Why don't you, the editor of the FrequentFlier Crier, ask them and publish their response?)

I think you'll have a greater following when the flock knows that you would serve as their advocate. I'm really surprised with the low turnout on the polls and you should be too (I know that these are not the Freddy's and you're just starting up, but ...). I would have believed that the suppliers actually monitor the traffic on your site; if they don't, then you need to make them aware of your existence. That was one of the reasons that I took issue with the Hapmton Inn posting and suggested that other readers identify bad experiences. If the suppliers do monitor the board, I believe that they would have mustered their own staff to stack the polling in their favor. Try serving as an advocate and by staying impartial, I believe that you will increase the number of readers and sponsors.

I do track the WebFlyer and BizTravel sites, but your is more palatable. Good Luck.

 - B

[Editor's Note. Many thanks to B for the thoughtful suggestions, both on earning miles and on improving the site and the programs. They are all points well taken.]

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PayPal.com
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I enjoy your every issue of your newsletter. I have a good tip to offer that will allow people to make $10 very easily with the opportunity to earn up to $1000. Most importantly, it will also give people the opportunity to use their affinity cards (only VISA and MasterCard currently) for paying friends and co-workers by using a service called PayPal.com. I signed up and registered my British Airways VISA card and it allows me to pay my share of the rent to my roommate using my BA Visa card-- gaining an additional 500 miles a month. And it's free. This is a great service that allows you to charge any transaction to anybody with an e-mail address and earn miles. I also paid another friend a $100 football bet I lost-- he logged in and had them send him a check via the U.S. Mail.

Please include the referral link below if you use this tip. Thanks.

 - Chris

[Editor's Note. Following is the canned plug for PayPal included with Chris's note. We're not familiar with PayPal, so we're neither endorsing nor disparaging their service. As always, we urge consumers to exercise due diligence before making commitments.]

Did you know you can email money with PayPal.com?

PayPal.com is a completely free service that lets users Beam Money to anyone with an email address. Use PayPal.com to settle restaurant tabs with colleagues, pay friends for movie tickets, or buy a baseball card at an online auction - all with the click of a mouse! PayPal charges the money to an existing credit card or bank account. It's faster, safer and easier than mailing a personal check.

I recently joined PayPal and got my $10 bonus right away. Signing up is quick, easy and you can download the money to your bank account at any time.

As soon as you sign up and register your credit card, PayPal.com will automatically send you $10! Click on this link to sign up and see for yourself.

REFER YOUR FRIENDS AND EARN UP TO $1,000

After you sign up, you'll get an email like this to send to friends and family, and PayPal.com will give you $10 for each friend or family member (up to 100) that signs up and registers a credit card. It's that easy!

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Blasting Delta
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Hey. First of all, long time listener, first time caller. Thanks for the hard work.

Now, on to my blasting of Delta.

This past September, I planned a vacation with my girlfriend. At the time, I was a resident of New York so the original route had me leaving Newark on Christmas Day to arrive in Cincinnati a little before noon. Then, two days later, my girlfriend and I both were to head to Los Angeles for a week and then return on the January 3 red-eye out of LAX. At 6:30a, she was to deboard and I was to continue on to Newark at 7:20a. My ticket (EWR -> CVG -> LAX -> EWR) cost $464.

Six weeks later, I took a new job in Chicago and wanted to remove the Newark segments from my itinerary. Here is how Delta handled my situation:

When I called their customer service desk and asked for some assistance, I told the agent that I took a new job, but not to worry -- "I will get to Cincinnati on my own. Just cancel out the Newark to Cincinnati legs, please. I will only be needing to fly from CVG to LAX."

"We can't do that, sir. You have to be on the Newark to Cincinnati flight in order to keep your seat for the Cincinnati to Los Angeles leg," she told me.

That flight is two days later, I explained. "What does one flight have to do with the other if they are separate flights?"

"Sir, you will need to be on the flight in Newark or else you will lose your seats for the remaining flights."

"Well, I am not going to be in Newark," I said between gritted teeth. "I have *moved*. I cannot *get* to Newark airport to make this flight." Starting to reason with her I asked, "What if I just don't show up for it? Is that okay?"

"No, sir. If you don't board the plane in Newark, our systems will read that as a no-show and you will be cancelled out for the rest of your trip."

"So," I asked, "can you you erase the Newark to Cincinnati leg of my iternerary so that I am *not* read as a no-show."

"No, sir. We cannot do that."

"Okay," I said, feeling my head start to boil, "how about we cancel the *entire* trip and then re-book the tickets with only the CVG - LAX trip."

The woman put me on hold for several minutes and then said, "Sir, if we cancel your ticket as you have requested, the new fare will be $1212.43. Would you like me to book this for you."

I lost it. When this Delta agent asked me if I wanted to pay $800 more to the airline in order to keep the reservation that I already *paid for*, I demanded to speak with her manager.

I explained the situation to the Delta Customer Service Manager and asked how the airline could charge me a fare for 2 seats (that I already had reserved!) at a cost of $800 more than the *4* seats of my original itinerary and The manager explained to me that in order to cancel the Newark to Cincinnati portion of my trip, I would have cancel my *entire* trip and then *re-book* my tickets for the seats that I already had reserved. That re-booking would cost me $1212.43.

If you are still reading, the story ended up with me screaming and yelling and having to pay an additional $187.33 (new "special screaming customer" fare differential plus $75 change fee) in order to take less flight segments over the same route. I don't think I need to explain how a logical person can go crazy over this notion.

So, jeers to Delta and their inability to take care of their customers' individual needs and lifestyles. The $187.33 and the 7 hours of phone time that it cost me to take care of this problem is the last thing that Delta will ever see of mine again.

Thanks again for the great newsletter,

 - Dan

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Poll Suggestion
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How about worst baggage handling system ...since the airlines seem to want to force travellers to check in everything, it would be only fair that we knew which airports and airline too pick to get our luggage back intact and in a timely fashion.

 - Bernard

[Editor's Note. Interesting idea... we'll see if there's a way to set up a "worst baggage-handling airport" poll, within the constraints of the voting software we use on the site.]

<< S I T E 2 S E E >>

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New Airline Mega-Site
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You'll have to wait until the second quarter of this year to actually see it, but the mother of all travel websites is coming.

Twenty-three US- and foreign-based carriers have signed letters of intent to become charter associates in the new web-based travel business being developed by United, Delta, Northwest and Continental, it was announced today.

As U.S.-based charter associates, American, US Airways, ATA, AirTran, Hawaiian, Midwest Express, Midway and Vanguard will make available on the site comprehensive seat inventories at fares as low or lower than those available from any other source. Participating foreign-based carriers include Air Canada, Air Jamaica, Air New Zealand, Alitalia, All Nippon Air, Austrian, British Midland, COPA, CSA Czech, Iberia, KLM, Korean, Mexicana, Singapore and Varig.

As if there weren't enough partners already, discussions are ongoing with additional airlines and other travel providers such as major hotel operators.

All participating airlines will continue to operate their respective Web sites as well as participate in other travel Web sites. The new company will be managed independent of its suppliers.

The name for the website is expected to be unveiled within 90 days.

The new site claims to offer the Internet's most complete choice of travel products and services "at prices equal to or lower than those available from any other travel source." If that's so, then it will compete with the participating airlines' own websites, as well as with mainstream online travel agencies, consolidators, and "name your price" distributors like Priceline.com. And, by virtue of the combination of all-in-one-place convenience and guaranteed-low-price value, the new site should take business away from everyone else.