U P F R O N T

The Future of U.S. Commercial Aviation
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I don't think it's any exaggeration to say that these are defining times for the airline industry. To wit...

> Consolidation, Yea or Nay
The national debate regarding the effects of airline consolidation rages on, with the Senate Commerce Committee this week reviewing testimony pro and con, and advocates for all sides furiously issuing news releases and position papers. The competing recommendations summarize as follows--

o Consolidation in any form should be blocked. John McCain, for example: "I don't know of anyone, other than the airlines, who think that a 'Big 3' industry is good for the consumer."

o Consolidation is to be discouraged generally, but the economic benefits of saving TWA outweigh the potential anti-competitive effects of AA's acquisition of TWA. This is the line taken by Missouri Governor Bob Holden, who argues that the TWA deal is "fundamentally different;" and "the primary difference in this case is that TWA cannot be saved without American's help."

o Consolidation is OK, as long as there are safeguards in place to guarantee continued price competition among the surviving mega-carriers.

o Consolidation should be given the green light, with no (or very few) strings attached; let the "wisdom of the marketplace" prevail.

> Delta Shifts into Buying Mode
Discussions have begun in earnest among Delta (likely acquirer), Continental (presumed acquisition target), and Northwest (potential DL-CO deal spoiler). Delta, behind the curve in the consolidation rush as it was late to the global alliance party, is apparently shopping for airlines. Continental, as a high-quality, mid-sized carrier, is a natural buyout prospect. And Northwest, by virtue of its preexisting marketing relationship with Continental, could derail a DL-CO deal. So, a possible scenario would be: Delta buys Northwest AND Continental, the former as a way of getting the latter.

> Back in the News: Passenger Bill of Rights
And, against the backdrop of the above, and widespread consumer dissatisfaction with airline service levels, there are moves afoot in Congress to resuscitate a Passenger Bill of Rights. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada will reportedly introduce legislation this week to "protect passengers and preserve high-quality air travel."

O N S I T E

FrequentFlier Forum Topics
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As always, there's plenty of activity on the Forum...

Jim alerts us to the fact that CompuBank is discontinuing its relationship with ClickRewards. Steve wants to convert his Marriott points to United miles. Avi shows us how to earn 1,000 bonus OnePass miles by signing up to receive account statements via e-mail. Reena is looking for suggestions on topping off her Northwest account. Elizabeth wants feedback on Thepayline.com. And the always-prolific Ronald has outdone himself.

Do you have questions? Do you have answers? Post them to the Forum!

>> More - The FrequentFlier Forum

M I L E S & P O I N T S

TWA Flights Now Earn AAdvantage Miles
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In what American hopes will be another step on the road to wholesale acquisition of TWA, members of American's AAdvantage program can, as of Feb. 1, earn mileage credit for flights on TWA. And effective Mar. 15, AAdvantage members will also be able to use their AAdvantage miles for award travel on TWA flights.

Also beginning Feb. 1, members of either airline's airport lounge programs will be able to use the other's clubs by showing a valid membership card and a day-of-flight ticket. They will not have to pay any special access fees. This is a boon to Ambassadors Club members, since American has 50 Admirals Clubs, versus 15 for TWA.

CompuBank and ClickRewards... Not!
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CompuBank customers received e-mail notice on Saturday, Jan. 26, that they would no longer earn ClickMiles for eligible transactions on or after Feb. 1. That's 6 day's warning of a significant policy change -- hardly adequate advance notice in my opinion.

Worse, up until the very end, both the CompuBank and ClickRewards websites promoted the relationship, with no indication whatever that the offer was scheduled to be discontinued within days.

Required reading for both companies: Business Ethics 101. And yes, there WILL be a test.

Fly to Helsinki, Earn Double Miles
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American AAdvantage members who travel on Finnair between January 15 and April 30, 2001, earn double miles for flights to Helsinki from either New York (JFK) or any of American's European gateways(Birmingham, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Rome, Stockholm and Zurich).

All purchased, published fares are valid. To qualify, you must register before flying, citing promotion code AYWIN.S

Marriott Adds Adventure Travel Rewards
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Marriott Rewards has added 9 adventure travel packages to its roster of more than 200 reward options.

The packages -- developed in conjunction with Mountain Travel * Sobek and featuring 6 to 10 days of guided activity, equipment, food and lodging -- can be booked between Mar. 1 and Oct. 31, 2001, for travel through the end of the year.

NW Intros Upgrade Auto-Notification
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Northwest has launched WorldPerks Elite Upgrade Status Messaging, to automatically notify WorldPerks Elite members of the status of their domestic first class upgrades.

Elite members can register for the service at http://www.nwa.com/elite, after which they will receive a status report on upgrade requests within 48 hours of departure, via voice mail, as an e-mail or an e-mail account on an alpha-numeric pager, Personal Digital Assistant/handheld device, or mobile phone.

Earn Double WebMiles for Avis Rentals
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WebMiles members will earn 100 WebMiles per day for qualifying car rentals at more than 1,000 Avis rental locations in the U.S. and Canada through March 31, 2001. That's double the normal rate of 50 WebMiles per day.

>> More - WebMiles offer

Delta Offers Bonuses for Istanbul, Lyon Flights
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SkyMiles members traveling between New York (JFK) and Istanbul, Turkey or Lyon, France will receive mileage bonuses beginning Feb. 1.

Through March 31, 2001, receive double miles for Istanbul flights. And through May 31, receive double miles in economy class and triple miles in BusinessElite. (excluding economy class "S", "T" or "U" fares and BusinessElite "I" fares). Bonuses apply on the transatlantic segments only, not on connecting destinations.

There's no registration necessary to receive these bonuses.

Delta Launches SkyMiles Card in Chile
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Delta has introduced a SkyMiles credit card for residents of Chile. The Delta SkyMiles Corp Banca Visa Card is available in Classic and Gold levels.

Card membership features a 5,000-mile bonus upon activation for the Gold Card and a 2,000-mile bonus upon activation of the Classic Card. Cardmembers will earn one mile for the equivalent of each U.S. dollar spent both in Chile and abroad. Additionally, a 6,000-mile bonus is offered for both levels after the cardmember reaches a spending threshold of $6,000 in the first year. There is no application fee and the annual fee is waived for the first year.

Redeem Neiman Marcus Points for Miles
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Effective immediately, members of the Neiman Marcus InCircle Rewards program can redeem 5,000 or more InCircle Rewards points for an equivalent number of Mileage Plus miles.

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...

System-Wide 'Grade A' Sale Starting at $78 R/T
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AirTran is offering system-wide sale fares in the latest release of its "Grade A Deals." Travel is valid through May 23. Purchase tickets by Tuesday, Feb. 13. There is an additional 5% discount for online booking.

For more details, go here.

Weekend Shuttle Fares for $79 R/T
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Fly between Boston, New York (LaGuardia), and Washington (Reagan National) on the Delta Shuttle for $79 round-trip if you travel between 7 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. This offer is valid through May 13.

For more details, go here.

I N D U S T R Y N E W S B I T E S

Survey Supports Airline Consolidation
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Just-released results of a recent survey by PLOG Research for Travel Weekly show that a majority of those polled favor the 2 pending airline mergers. Here's the executive summary--

                                    Merger
                           UA-US             AA-TW

   Very Opposed            15.1%             11.8%
   Somewhat Opposed        31.5%             26.1%
   Somewhat Favor          41.4%             50.3%
   Strongly Favor          11.9%             11.7%

As someone who equates consolidation with decreased competition and everything that implies -- higher fares, fewer flights, less customer service, etc. -- I find these results, frankly, astonishing. Either I'm misreading the sentiments of the traveling public (the Crier readership, notably), or the researchers got a bad sample.

More Airlines Up Change Fee
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We reported last week on Continental's move to increase the fee from $75 to $100 for making changes to non-refundable tickets. American raised their fee to $90, and other carriers were expected to follow suit.

They did. As we go to press this week, Delta has matched the $100 fee for most domestic changes (Shuttle flight changes rise from $50 to $75); United, Northwest and US Airways' change fees are now $100; and TWA's is $100 for Hawaii flights. Plus, American added $10 to last week's increase, matching the $100 level.

The new industry standard, it can now be said, is... $100.

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

By the Book
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Some time ago I came across the following excerpts about old flight attendant manual instructions. Can't remember where I got it from. Maybe someone out there might know? Thought you might get a laugh out of them.

* Keep an eye on the passengers when they go to the lavatory to be sure they don't mistakenly go out the emergency exit.
* Warn passengers against throwing their cigars and cigarettes out the windows.
* Carry a railroad timetable in case the plane is grounded.

- Elizabeth

Until next week...