Bankruptcy Watch

Today, as pilots protested outside Delta's Atlanta headquarters, negotiators for the company and the pilots union were hunkered down in a New York hotel, trying to broker an agreement that would avert a threatened pilots strike which could permanently ground the airline.

As we've reported, an arbitration panel has until Saturday to rule on the company's bid to unilaterally reject the pilots' current contract. And Delta pilots have authorized their union to call a strike as soon as Monday.

Stay tuned.

MarketWatch reported this week that the parent company of Fidelity Investments has made a significant bet on the airline industry's recovery, acquiring a 13% stake in United and almost doubling its previous holding in American, also to 13%. That makes Fidelity the largest single shareholder in both airlines.

Beleagured travelers can only hope the investment giant's optimism turns out to be well-founded.

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, MDinKC poses the following query about award-booking strategies: "I have 98k in AAdvantage miles and need to book 4 milesaver awards for a family trip from MCI to Orlando in May 2007. How far out do I need to call them?"

Also in the "Airline Programs" Forum, oozabooza wants to switch his elite status to a different airline: "I am a Delta Platinum holder. I haven't been too happy with them or their situation lately and would like to switch my business to another airline. I would like my new airline of choice to match my platinum status. How do I go about doing this? I called Continental and was told that they will not match the status of partner airlines, so they couldn't help me. Is this true of all partner airlines or is this Continental's rule only?"

And much more. Questions, answers? Post them to the Forum!

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Alaska Discounts Award Flights

Mileage Plan members can redeem 5,000 fewer miles -- 15,000 instead of the 20,000 normally required -- for award flights between Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Reno or Denver and any cities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Discount is valid for travel between Apr. 18 and June 8, but NOT May 26-29.

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From Amtrak: Buy 2, Get 1 Free

Through June 17, Amtrak Guest Rewards members will earn one free trip for every two roundtrips or four one-way trips they take on Acela or Metroliner services between selected cities on the Northeast Corridor route.

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Double Frontier Miles for CA Flights

Between Apr. 14 and May 31, EarlyReturns members will earn double miles for Frontier flights between Denver and San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, San Jose or Orange County.

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Bonus for Stays at Central American Hiltons

Through June 30, Hilton is offering triple airline miles or triple HHonors bonus points for stays at three Central America properties: the Hilton Princess Managua (Nicaragua), the Hilton Princess San Pedro Sula (Honduras) and the Hilton Princess San Salvador (El Salvador).

Cite promotional code QL when booking to receive the bonus.

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MyPoints.com Has New Owner

MyPoints -- one of the few online loyalty programs that was born in the Internet boom and survived the Internet collapse -- has been sold by United Airlines to United Online, parent company of NetZero, Juno and Classmates.com, for $56 million. (United, the airline, purchased MyPoints for $113 million in 2001.)

MyPoints reportedly has 4.5 million members, 1.4 million of whom were active during the first quarter of 2006.

The change in ownership from an airline preoccupied with bankruptcy and reorganization to an expansion-oriented and Internet-savvy company should position MyPoints for a solid future.

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SWISS, South African Join Star

SWISS and South African Airways are the latest addition to the Star Alliance network. Other partner airlines include Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore, Spanair, TAP Portugal, THAI, United, US Airways and VARIG.

As with all Star members, the new carriers become earning and redemption partners in the programs of all other Star airlines; and all Star airlines become earning and award partners in the programs of SWISS and SAA.

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Earn More United Miles for Hyatt Stays in Japan

Between Apr. 10 and July 31, Mileage Plus members will earn triple miles for stays of two or more nights at participating Hyatt hotels in Japan.

Call 1-800-233-1234 for participating hotels and request offer code UA628 when making reservations.

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Up to 35,000 United Miles for Sprint, Nextel Service

Through May 31, Mileage Plus members can earn up to 35,000 bonus miles for purchasing and activating new Sprint PCS or Nextel phones and rate plans.

The bonus is 7,000 miles for each new phone, with a maximum of five new phones with plans and approved credit, for a total of up to 35,000 bonus miles.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Europe Sale Fares on US Airways from $442

Flights to Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, and Stockholm are on sale from US Airways. Prices start at $442 roundtrip.

Lisbon and Stockholm travel must be booked by Apr. 22. US Airways has not listed a booking deadline for Madrid and Barcelona flights.

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2) Iceland Spring Fares on Icelandair from $458

Flights to Iceland start at $458 roundtrip for spring travel. Icelandair's sale features departures from a handful of U.S. cities, including Baltimore, Boston, New York, Orlando, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.

Travel is valid from Apr. 3 through May 31. Fares require a Saturday-night stay, and the maximum stay is 30 days. Service from San Francisco starts May 17. Icelandair has not listed a booking deadline.

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Win 200K Northwest Miles Plus $500

Enter the WorldPerks Visa "Miles All Around You" sweepstakes by May 31 for a chance to win the Grand Prize of 200,000 WorldPerks Bonus Miles plus a $500 U.S. Bank Visa Gift Card or one of 150 instant win prizes.

No purchase is necessary to participate, but you must be a WorldPerks member.

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[Visit http://frequentflier.com/sweeps.htm for more travel sweepstakes.]

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

"Why does Continental continue to offer loyalty miles for this and that, when they have no intention of redeeming them?

"I have over 500,000 miles with them and I cant get a mileage flight, 10 days either side of my desired departure dates, to Dallas, Houston, Europe, Hawaii and so on. Neither will they allow me to upgrade using mileage...ever. I have since changed airlines, mostly to American who will fairly often allow both mileage flights and upgrades. I would like to know if my experiences with Continental are shared by others." [Richard J.]

"I used to belong to AA dining program. In all the years I used my card to purchase dinners at their listed restaurants, I only got 1 mile addition... from Perkos coffee shop.

"Finally, I just got tired of hassling... calling them is a total waste of time and frustrating." [Ben... former AA diner]

Until next week...