U P F R O N T

A Grim Week; Something to Laugh About
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The news from the travel front is bleak, bleak, bleak.

Just a few highlights from this week's long list of downer developments:

American's pilots' union, after reviewing the company's books, has calculated that -- based on burn rate and cash on hand -- the world's largest airline could be forced into bankruptcy as soon as May.

Northwest's debt rating has been downgraded deeper into junk status, increasing the cost of capital and ratcheting up pressure to squeeze labor for further wage and productivity concessions.

United's pilots and flight attendants have come out squarely against the company's plan to launch a low-fare airline-within-an-airline. Whatever the merits of that concept (and it's an idea which has a proven history of failure), the rift points up the inability of United's management to get all factions aligned behind its reorganization plan.

Pilots at US Airways are threatening to strike if the company proceeds with plans to replace the current pension plan with a less generous one.

The news from overseas isn't any better...

All Nippon Airways announced on Monday that it plans to cut 1,200 jobs over the next 3 years in a bid to regain profitability.

British Airways is considering "early retirement" for the venerable Concorde SST's.

Swiss International (successor to Swissair, RIP) will cut its fleet by 20 planes, trim routes and reduce staff by 700.

And with fuel prices rising and war with Iraq a near certainty, the travel news is likely to get worse before it gets better.

To keep the tone of the Crier from tipping too far into the black, we're reviving the "FrequentFlier Funnies" section (see below), on a space-available basis. Cuz at the end of the day, it's worth remembering that travel and frequent flyer miles aren't life's highest priority.

O N S I T E

New On the FrequentFlier Forum
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According to Joe: "Award travel is a JOKE!"

El Cheapo wonders, "Are there any websites that give frequent flier miles for taking surveys?" (Answer: yes.)

George has family-pooling accounts on his mind.

And Gina is searching for miles-for-DSL.

Questions, answers, comments? Post them to the Forum!

> More...

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

American to Launch Tokyo Service with Bonus
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Fly American's new service between Los Angeles and Tokyo to earn 15,000 bonus miles for first or business class and 7,500 miles for economy (excluding O, Q, L, N, S fares).

Offer is available to AAdvantage members residing in the U.S., Canada and Japan, who fly roundtrip between Apr. 1 and June 30.

Register prior to travel, using promo code LANRT, at http://aa.com/.

From AWA: Miles-for-Newspapers
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FlightFund members will be awarded up to 2,200 miles a year for subscribing to the Arizona Republic.

Earn 1,000 miles for a new subscription utilizing automatic payment, or switching a current subscription to the automatic payment option. Thereafter, earn an additional 100 miles for each month the subscription remains active and linked to the automatic payment program.

To earn miles by subscribing to the Arizona Republic, visit http://www.miles.azcentral.com or call 1-800-332-6733.

Delta Will End Mileage Exchange with Hilton
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Effective Mar. 1, Delta will no longer participate in Hilton HHonors' Reward Exchange.

All requests for miles-to-points exchanges must be made by Feb. 28.

On a positive note, beginning Mar. 1, HHonors members can redeem points for Delta Crown Room passes, or $50 discounts on annual Crown Room memberships.

> More...

National to Pull Plug on Emerald Club Awards
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National Car Rental is stripping Emerald Club of its award component.

Members can continue earning points through May 15, and will earn double points between Feb. 15 and May 15. Since there is no mileage-purchase option, this is the final opportunity to reach award levels.

All points must be redeemed by Dec. 31, 2003, after which they expire.

Members received the announcement in a letter dated Feb. 10, which blamed "the realities of today's business climate, and of the travel industry in particular."

The Emerald Club -- minus the points-earning and -redemption feature -- will remain in place, allowing members expedited check-in and other perks.

Enrollment in the awards part of Emerald Club was frozen over 10 years ago.

> More...

Earn Double Starpoints for Tax Payments
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We reported on the Delta and United double-miles-for-tax-payments offers a couple of weeks ago. There's now a similar promotion available from Starwood.

Starwood Preferred Guest credit cardholders can earn double Starpoints on their first $4,000 in federal income taxes when charging payments to the card from Mar. 15 through Apr. 15, 2003.

At press time, there was no mention of the offer on the SPG website, so you'll have to call 1-800-AXP-1000 for full details.

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...

Systemwide savings to over 40 cities starting at $88 R/T
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AirTran has just released sale fares to/from cities in the East and Midwest, plus Grand Bahama Island, for travel all the way through Sept. 9.

This is an especially good deal because you can travel at low fares during the summer, when flights are typically more expensive. Book tickets at least 7 days in advance and by Thursday, Mar. 6.

> More...

Fly Northwest to Amsterdam for as little as $234 R/T
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From the art of Van Gogh to the city's vibrant cafe life, there's no shortage of culture in Amsterdam. And this spring looks like a great time to visit, as Northwest is offering some of the best fares we've seen this year.

Departure is valid through Apr. 10; travel must be completed by May 10. Book tickets online only, at least 14 days in advance, and by Mar. 10.

> More...

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

This Week's E-mail Bag
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"I recently tried to coordinate a reward trip for myself using Continental OnePass miles and for a traveling companion using my Northwest Worldperks miles.

"The OnePass rep was very helpful and found a standard 50,000 reward seat from Seattle-Rome, Italy on Northwest and KLM. The itinerary took me from Seattle-Amsterdam, but there were no available reward seats immediately to Rome from there. OnePass said I'd have to spend 3 nights in Amsterdam. I explained that I wanted a stopover in New York on the way back to visit family and OnePass stated because the stopover in Amsterdam was not my choice, the stop in NYC was fine on the the return. The seat was held for 2 weeks for me. I called Worldperks in an attempt to match the itinerary as I didn't have enough OnePass miles for 2 seats. The rep there seemed annoyed and disinterested. He attempted to match the flights I had but would allow two stopovers (Amsterdam and NYC) -- but more important was unable to HOLD any reward reservation for me. It needed to be ticketed right away.

"Two airlines, two policies, but one is clearly more customer service oriented, no?"

- David in Seattle,

F R E Q U E N T F L I E R F U N N I E S

True (Funny) Travel Stories
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Reported comments to reservations agents...

I once had someone ask if we flew into Long Beach. When I said that we did, he asked if that would be to the Long Beach Airport. "No sir," I answered, "we just sorta fly in real low and flip you out over the bus station."

[FrequentFlier Funnies are true stories told by pilots, reservations agents and other travel industry professionals, from William Joric's "Air Sick Humor." The book can be purchased at the FrequentFlier Bookstore.]

Until next week...