U P F R O N T

Free Tickets (Robbing Peter to Pay Paul)

It began with American's JetBlue-basher: fly 2 roundtrips between New York or Boston and Florida or California by Apr. 15 to earn a free ticket anywhere in American's network, including overseas.

Naturally, Delta matched. And United... well, United responded with a bit of sleight of hand, copying American's offer in enough respects to suggest that they were in fact matching it, but burying 1 significant restriction in the fine print -- qualifying flights cannot include a Saturday-night stay -- which effectively limits the offer to the very few travelers who buy expensive unrestricted tickets.

A second wave of free ticket offers followed, with United, Northwest and Delta dangling yet another systemwide coach ticket in front of would-be travelers, this time in exchange for a single roundtrip transatlantic flight in business class (or in United's case, in first or business), also by Apr. 15.

(See http://delta.com, http://www.nwa.com/offers/tatlwbc/ or http://www.united.com/internationalfree for Delta, Northwest and United respectively.)

And this week, there's been yet another outbreak of free ticket exuberance: buy-3/get-1-free offers from United and Northwest (see "Miles & Points" below), which will undoubtedly draw a competitive response from other airlines.

Of course, at some point the bill for these giveaways will come due. Make no mistake: those free seats will not be given away at the expense of revenue passengers. So consumers who earned freebies through these promotions will be competing against each other, and against frequent flyer program members trying to redeem miles, for the very limited supply of seats set aside for such purposes.

If flights are running as full then as they are now, we may find ourselves cursing the airlines' generosity and wishing they had given away fewer free seats.

<< O N S I T E >>

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

Kelley is searching for other mileage-oriented websites. JJ wonders: "Are FF miles worth 1 cent per mile?" Travlynn shares a link to sign up for the Amex-Delta card fee-free for the first year. And much more...

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

> More...

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

Double AAdvantage Miles for iDining
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Between Feb. 9 and Mar. 31, AAdvantage members will earn double miles for their first 3 qualifying meals at participating iDine restaurants.

Pre-registration is required.

> More...

AT&T Offers 10K OnePass Miles
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OnePass members who sign up for both AT&T Residential Long Distance Service and AT&T Local Service will earn 10,000 OnePass bonus miles, plus 5 miles per $1 spent on qualifying AT&T services thereafter.

> More...

Alamo Partners with Hilton HHonors
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Alamo now participates in the Hilton HHonors guest reward program.

HHonors members earn 250 bonus points when they rent from Alamo in conjunction with qualifying stays at HHonors hotels. Present your Alamo car rental agreement or keys when checking in at the hotel.

> More...

Lufthansa/United Promotion -- Addendum
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In last week's Crier, we noted that the free ticket offer for United and Lufthansa transatlantic flights could be earned in either the United or Lufthansa programs.

We included a link to the United website for details and to register, but neglected to include a corresponding link for Miles & More members. It is http://www.lufthansa-usa.com.

Marriott Offers MegaBonus
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Marriott Rewards members who stay 7 nights in any Marriott brand hotels between Feb. 15 and May 15 and will receive 10,000 bonus Marriott Rewards points.

Registration is required, either online or by calling 1-888-MARRIOTT, by May 15. Credit will be applied retroactively to any Marriott stays that occurred during the promotional period but prior to registration.

> More...

From Northwest: 1-2-3-Free
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Northwest is offering WorldPerks members a free coach class certificate after completing 3 roundtrips on qualifying fares to any Northwest or KLM destinations between Feb. 10 and June 15. All fares are eligible, with the exception of K, L and T. Qualifying flights must originate or terminate in the U.S. or Canada and be on Northwest or KLM-operated flights.

The free certificate is good for travel within the 48 contiguous states or between the 48 contiguous states and Canada between Sept. 1, 2004 and June 15, 2005. For Hawaii and Alaska residents, the certificate is good for travel between Hawaii or Alaska and the 48 contiguous states. A maximum of 2 free tickets may be earned.

Advance registration is required, and no later than Apr. 15.

> More...

Red Roof Gets Delta Miles
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Members of Red Roof Inns' RediCard Preferred Member program have a new award option: Delta miles.

With the new Delta tie-up, RediCard members may redeem 5,000 RediCard points for 1,000 SkyMiles. And between Mar. 15 and June 30, the exchange rate doubles, netting RediCard members 2,000 Delta miles for every 5,0000 RediCard points.

> More...

Fidelity Investments Is New Mileage Plus Partner
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Mileage Plus members can earn up to 25,000 miles by opening a new Fidelity Investments account.

Earn 5,000 miles for a deposit of $2,500 - $9,999, 15,000 miles for $10,000 - $49,999, and 25,000 miles for deposits of $50,000 and more.

> More...

Earn 15,000 Miles from Mileage Plus Visa
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New Mileage Plus Gold Visa cardholders will earn a hefty 15,000 bonus miles after their first charge.

Card is issued by First USA and carries an $85 annual fee and 13.9% variable annual percentage rate.

> More...

United's "Fly 3 Fly Free; Fly 6 Fly First" Promo
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Mileage Plus members who fly 3 qualifying roundtrips on United, United Express or Ted by June 15 will earn a free economy class ticket anywhere United flies in the 48 contiguous U.S. Fly 6 qualifying roundtrips to earn a second free ticket, this time in first class.

Let's get the salient restriction right up front, where United should have put it: "Qualifying economy class travel will not include Saturday night stay."

Free tickets are valid for travel between Sept. 1, 2004 and June 15, 2005, except for blacked-out dates.

Register by Apr. 15.

> More...

<< 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...

Southwest Extends Nationwide Sale from $78
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Southwest has once again extended its systemwide sale that offers short-haul trips starting at $78 roundtrip, and cross-country flights for less than $200. If you've been putting off booking your winter or spring trip, now's the time to do it before the seats at the cheapest fares disappear.

Southwest lowest prices are available for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, with higher fares for travel on other days. Travel is valid through June 11. Book tickets at least 14 days in advance, and by Thursday, Feb. 26.

> More...

Spring Fares to Europe from $224
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Save on a trip to Europe this spring with sale fares from American, Delta, Northwest, and US Airways as low as $224 roundtrip. Two European airlines, Austrian and Finnair, are also offering sale fares for travel to the Continent.

Winter and spring fares to Europe are often lower than prices during the summer, which is Europe's high season. All of the sale prices are lower than summer fares, but we also found that you can save by booking your Europe travel with an international airline.

> More...

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

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel
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[The first note concerns Alaska Airlines' forthcoming "No more paper statements" policy.]

"I'll state upfront that I am a huge supporter of this type of program. It cuts down on lots of costs, and for those people who do have computer access -- which I'd wager are most of the impacted customers -- it's a huge improvement in information delivery.

"Benefits - Faster delivery of your statement - Reduces costs for the airline - Reduces (literally) tons of waste; for every 10 million of these sent out, at an average weight of 4 oz's per mailing, you're producing, mailing, and then throwing out 1,250 TONS of paper - Better customer service; with live links, you can easily get to relevant program information directly from the email - Better cross marketing; again with live links you can click on the airline's partner companies advertisements and have instant gratification with respect to bookings and information

"Drawbacks - Some people, those without computers, will end up with a worse product than before - Your comment on spam filters is definitely valid; but most email systems allow you to create a whitelist or alternatively automatically ignore emails from people on your address list... so to me the drawback is that you have take a minute and do one of these two actions for each mailing you receive - You can't kick back in your living room and read this with the rest of your mail

"So I have to ask, taken in this context, really... what do most people prefer? I'd have trouble believing that most of your readers are not a fan. After all, since they read your emails, these guys do have access to a computer..."

- Glenn

"It appears to be almost impossible to use Northwest Airlines WorldPerks miles. Last fall, I tried to book a roundtrip flight to a dozen different U.S. destinations for the second week in December. There was no availability on any of these flights. About a month ago, I received a mailing from Northwest advertising $500 trips to Europe; unfortunately, there was no availability when I called the same day to book a flight (using World Perks or paying the fare).

"Today, I tried to use my WorldPerks miles to upgrade to first class on an international flight to Europe in April, but was informed that because I didn't pay full fare, the upgrade was not available. According to our travel agent, the "cheap rates" we received were significantly higher than in previous years. Does anyone have any advice on when/where Northwest will actually let me use my 77,000 miles?"

- Anita

"As a long time American Airlines customer and Platinum member, I was disturbed by the lack of availability to use miles for upgrades on transatlantic flights due to capacity controls/seating limitations. To demonstrate this point, I cite two examples that show how Americans Frequent Flyer Program has deteriorated to the point where business travelers may seriously consider leaving the program (in droves).

"Example 1: Reduction in Upgrade Seat Availability

"I recently requested to use miles to upgrade on flights from Germany to the US, as was informed that there was no availability on ANY transatlantic flight to or from ANY European destination to ANY US destination for at least 60 days in the future. This confounded me a bit, as winter (Jan/Feb/Mar)is not exactly high season, and I have been flying American Airlines transatlantic at least 8 times a year for the last two years, and never had major problems with upgrade seat availability. Admittedly, I am flexible with my departure location and routing and have had to change the routing on occasions to leave for the transatlantic leg out of London instead of Frankfurt, or take a connection from Dallas instead of Chicago. To be told however that for at least 2 months that there was NO upgrade possibility on ANY transatlantic flight, obviously make the program now one of the worst in the industry in terms of upgrades.

"When I checked the seat maps for seats on flights where I was told there was not availability for upgrades, guess what, only 8 seats were marked as sold, out of 32 available. I would wager that not all of these 8 were "upgrades" thus leading me to believe that American has dramatically reduced the number of available seats for transatlantic upgrades, in favor of "picking your pocket" at the airport ticket counter.

"Example 2: "Picking Pockets" Preferred over Elite Traveler Support

"To my surprise, I now routinely see at the Frankfurt airport American Check-in Counter, blatant advertisements for Business Class upgrades for flights departing to the US to be purchased for 275$ on the spot. So rather than offer these seats to Elite members, they are sold first come first serve basis. This is a clear messages that American does not value Elite flyers, and will not longer make any effort to accommodate them. Basically, what this says to the frequent traveler is that your miles no longer have value, and any for any seats remaining, we will take cash.

"I have written American Customer Service about this concern, and have received only the most vapid of platitudes in response. Clearly, American Airlines dramatic destruction of what used to be one of the best programs is forcing me to switch my primary transatlantic carrier. Fortunately, other airlines offer a little known option, where you can provide them with records showing your elite status on say American, and they will "Comp" you to like status on their airline on a provisional (short term) basis while you acrue elite mile.

"So, Auf Wiedersehen American!"

- Duane

Until next week...