O N S I T E
FrequentFlier Forum Topics
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As always, there's plenty of activity on the Forum.
Jeff is wondering about the mileage expiration policy at AAdvantage. Rob has a question about the Northwest no-fee credit card. Rick wants to earn miles for refinancing his home. Hal is searching for a good deal on a ticket to Italy. And much more...
Do you have questions, answers? Post them to the Forum!
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M I L E S & P O I N T S
Points.com to Launch Mileage Exchange
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What a currency exchange is to dollars, deutschemarks and yen, Points.com's pointsxchange aims to be for miles and points from a wide range of loyalty programs, on- and offline, travel-related and not.
Beginning Apr. 2, when the pointsxchange function goes live, members of participating programs will be able to convert their earnings and transfer them among their accounts.
As you would expect, there's a price to be paid for this convenience. In effect, users pay a commission for the transfer, resulting in a conversion rate of less than 1:1. While the conversion rates will vary among the programs, Points.com stated that transfers among airline programs currently slated to participate would be in the 20% - 40% range. I.e., 60% - 80% of the miles' original value will be lost in the process.
In addition to the conversion-rate loss, there are fees for using the exchange service.
New account holders at points.com receive 1 free pointsxchange conversion. Thereafter, account holders can either pay $5.95 per conversion, or pay $14.95 for a year's worth of unlimited conversions. And for a limited time, if you make 2 conversions at the regular price, you'll receive free unlimited conversions through December 31, 2001.
Not cheap. Still, if those were "orphan miles," destined never to grow to a meaningful level, the ability to combine them with other miles, and thereby achieve an award, could more than offset the loss in value.
To date, the following airlines have agreed to participate: Air Canada, Alaska, American, America West, and Midwest Express. Other participating programs are beenz.com, ClickRewards, LoyaltyTravel, and PhoneHog.com. The company is in discussions with 50 other programs, and expects to add new partners shortly.
In addition to its mile conversion function, the Points.com website offers users an account manager, pointsfolio, which consolidates mileage balances and other loyalty program data into a single personalized report. Unlike MaxMiles, MilesDirect and other such online mileage managers, pointsfolio is free.
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AAdvantage Adds New Bank Partner
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AAdvantage has added a second banking-for-miles partner to the program, Guaranty Bank.
Open a Guaranty AirMiles Checking account to earn a 2,000-mile welcome bonus. Thereafter, earn 1 mile for every $10 in your account, per month. And there's a 1-time 1,000-mile bonus offered for having your salary direct deposited into the account. (BankDirect, the other AAdvantage-affiliated bank, offers 100 miles per month for every $1,000 maintained in a Mileage Checking Account.)
Call 1-800-288-8982 or visit http://www.gfbank.com for details.
Northwest Extends Bonuses for Online Bookings
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Northwest has extended the 4,000/1,000 WorldPerks Online Booking Bonuses for passengers who purchase tickets through Northwest's website through Dec. 31, 2001.
Earn 4,000 bonus miles the first time you purchase a ticket online through nwa.com by Dec. 31, 2001. If you have previously booked NW online, earn 1,000 WorldPerks bonus miles for reservations made through Dec. 31, 2001.
The first-time bonus was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2001.
Northwest Adds Check Card to WorldPerks Lineup
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Also new at Northwest, WorldPerks members can now earn 1 mile for every $2 spent using the WorldPerks Check Card for Visa-based transactions. (Visa-based transactions are those in which the customer or merchant sweeps the card through the card reader but does not enter a PIN number.)
The U.S. Bank-issued card carries a $20 annual fee and customers who open a new U.S. Bank checking account will receive a 1-time bonus of 4,000 miles for selecting a WorldPerks Check Card. Miles are not earned on ATM transactions, checks, balance transfers or purchases made with a PIN number.
Frontier Doubles Miles for DIA Connections
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Denver-based Frontier is offering EarlyReturns members double miles for flights which connect through the airline's Denver hub between Apr. 4, and May 24, 2001.
The bonus applies to Denver connecting flights only -- no double miles are offered for travel originating or terminating in Denver. Bonus can only be earned once per member during the promotion period.
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United Doubles Miles for DIA Flights
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Presumably at least partially in response to Frontier's offer (above), United is offering double Mileage Plus miles for roundtrips between Denver and the following cities: Burbank (CA), Colorado Springs (CO), Lincoln (NE), Oakland (CA), San Jose (CA), Spokane (WA) and Tulsa (OK).
Travel must be completed between Apr. 1 and June 30, 2001. This bonus may be earned up to 3 times during the promotion period. Valid only for residents of the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Roots Air Debuts Flights, Mileage Plan
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Canada's newest airline, Roots Air, inaugurated service this week between Toronto and both Vancouver and Calgary. Roots Air is a joint venture, pairing Skyservice Airlines, a charter operator, with retail giant Roots Canada.
No airline targeting the business traveler, as Roots does, would venture into the competitive skies without a frequent flyer program. Rather than build a program from scratch or simply partner with an existing program -- the traditional options -- Roots is offering its customers a co-branded version of Alaska Air's program, dubbed Roots Air-Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
Roots Air's Mileage Plan is basically identical to Alaska's version, except for the following. First and foremost, members can of course earn and redeem miles for Roots flights. And members can as well receive a 20% discount on purchases at most Roots retail stores; and they can redeem miles for Roots merchandise.
If you're a member of Air Canada's Aeroplan program, Roots will match your Aeroplan elite level with equivalent status in the Roots program.
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Online Rewards Watch
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In the wake of the termination of AllAdvantage and PointsUniverse, and anticipating a further shakeout among the online rewards programs, we'll be providing occasional news snippets regarding companies operating in this unstable area.
> Beenz
Today's Financial Times reports that Beenz, purveyor of the online promotional currency of the same name, is up for sale. The company has reduced staffing by 70% and closed some offices. There are 5.4 million Beenz accounts worldwide.
> CoolSavings
Chicago-based Coolsavings.com this week laid off 67 employees, 24% of its workforce. The cut follows last month's 10% layoff, and reports that the company's cash reserves are dwindling.
> FreeAirMiles.com
SearchHound.com, Inc., "one of the first pay-per-click intelligent search engines," has acquired FreeAirMiles.com in an all-stock transaction.
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 Offers Savings to/from the Midwest and West
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Southwest has announced a fare sale offering savings to/from four regions in the Midwestern and Western U.S. Travel is available between Apr. 5 and Aug. 4.
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Three Airlines Announce Mexico Fare Sales
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American, America West, and Mexicana have released sale fares for travel from cities throughout the U.S. to destinations in Mexico for travel this spring.
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I N D U S T R Y N E W S B I T E S
Online Travel: Strong & Growing
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The hand-wringing about dot-com's notwithstanding, Internet travel sales are robust, and growing more so.
Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive this week reported that the online travel industry hit $1.2 billion in sales in January, accounting for nearly a third of all e-commerce transactions for the period, and representing a dollar increase of 29% from 6 months ago when consumers spent $943 million on online travel.
From last Jan. to Jan. 2001, Nielsen//NetRatings found that online shopping trips to the top 5 travel sites from work and home jumped 42% to 22 million visits. Here are the top 5 travel sites, ranked according to their share of online travel buyers:
1. Travelocity 18%
2. Southwest 14%
3. Expedia 11%
4. Priceline 9%
5. Delta 8%
Study Says "Nay" to Orbitz
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EnteThe Orbitz debate heated up this week with the release of a study by MIT Professor of Economics Jerry Hausman. Orbitz is the online travel agency owned jointly by the 5 largest U.S. carriers, scheduled to open for business this June.
The study was funded by Interactive Travel Services Association, Southwest Airlines and the American Society of Travel Agents, all of which are squarely in the anti-Orbitz camp.
Key points from the study's predictably negative findings:
* Orbitz is "likely to chill price competition and reduce innovation, and harm low-fare airlines like Southwest, Frontier, Spirit, American Trans Air, Vanguard, AirTran, Sun Country, and Jet Blue, which are producing enormous consumer benefits through low fares and price discipline."
* As a result of the Orbitz launch, "the Internet travel distribution channel rapidly could become concentrated and be characterized by significant barriers to entry." The estimated loss to consumers from decreased airline competition and higher airfares as a result of Orbitz is $3.2 billion on a discounted present value basis, and $183 million annually.
The full report is here.
Until next week...
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